Omid Djalili says killing people is as simple as drinking water for Iran's IRGC
11 November 2022, 17:53 | Updated: 11 November 2022, 19:39
Omid Djalili says killing people is as simple as drinking water for Iran's IRGC
Omid Djalili has told James O'Brien that, for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], killing people is "as simple as drinking water".
His exchange with James today has come as Iran has been rocked by anti-government protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
It also comes after 227 Iranian lawmakers last week called on the judiciary in a letter to consider "severe punishments" for those involved in "riots" - according to Iranian state media, as protests in Iran continue.
Mr Djalili told James: "Well, right now, look, what we're talking about is the first girls' revolution in the history of humanity.
"And the only other time where women have stood up is the suffragette movement where women in Britain at the turn of the 20th century were fighting hard.
"They were fighting against the patriarchy, but they were fighting for their place in a man's world. They were fighting for equal footing."
"What's happening in Iran is the women are fighting to bring down a regime, which we've never seen before.
"They're fighting a group of people who believe that women are not only second-class citizens [but that] they're animals - animals in human form which men can use whichever way they want...Even in Afghanistan now, we've heard that women have been banned from parks. I mean it's crazy."
READ MORE: Revolution in Iran gaining momentum, says activist and journalist Masih Alinejad
Later in the exchange, Mr Djalili told James: "You have to understand - for the IRGC [The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] - killing people is as simple as drinking water, because [they believe] it's God-led [and] it's religious that they are doing God's work. They believe that."
The comedian and actor last month told James that “this revolution has been coming for 43 years” in Iran.
He also last month told James that he thinks “this is a major feminist movement happening under our very eyes, and if we don't get behind it then shame on us really”.
Mahsa Amini died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with the Iranian regime’s strict standards.
Iranian authorities have said Mahsa suffered sudden heart failure after she was taken into custody, but her father Amjad Amini has denied that she had been in bad health.
Mr Amini has said that Mahsa’s 17-year-old brother Kiarash, who was there when Mahsa was detained, was told that his sister had been beaten.
Last week, Norway-based organisation Iran Human Rights said at least 304 people, including 41 children and 24 women, have been killed in ongoing nationwide protests.
You can watch the full exchange that took place today between Omid Djalili and James above.
