ICC President, Mona Ghassemi has sent the following letter in support of Ms. Khadija Barbe to the leadership of Mères au front:

https://assets.nationbuilder.com/iraniancanadiancongress/pages/4561/attachments/original/1774620950/2026-03-21_Re%CC%81ponse_Me%CC%80res_au_front.pdf?1774620950

I am writing on behalf of the Iranian Canadian Congress to voice our support for Ms. Khadija Barbe, who was the subject of a March 13th article in Le Journal de Montreal attacking her character, after your organization shamelessly disowned her rather than standing up for her as a contributing volunteer member.  
 
It would seem, based on the article, that rather than establish a dialogue to attempt to understand Ms. Barbe’s position, Les Mères au front relied on tropes of orientalism and Islamophobia to publicly defame her. Khadija’s supposed misstep was carrying the official flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Women’s Day march on March 8th. She did so in solidarity with Iranian people, including women and children, whose lives were cut short by the brutal and indiscriminate recent acts of war against Iran by the United States and Israel, which include bombing an elementary school in the southern town of Minab on February 28th, as well as killing a team of young women’s volleyball players. As the protection of children appears to be part of the mandate of Les Mères au front, her decision to express such solidarity would seem to be aligned with the organization.  
 
Your cofounder’s comment “Comme tous les régimes islamistes, celui de l’Iran va à l’encontre des valeurs du mouvement » is ignorant and orientalist, flattening Muslim women’s experiences. Women in Iran, who represent 55% of university enrollments, engage in all walks of public life. Iranian women have a right to protest policies affecting them in their own country, and today we see many of the same women, often without hijab, proudly carrying their country’s flag in defiance of those that claim to stand with them by bombarding them. 

By ejecting Ms. Barbe, your organization, rather than saving its reputation, undermines its own credibility. Furthermore, by publicly slandering Ms. Barbe, you have opened her up to ridicule and attacks from the reactionary press and elements of Québecois society that you purport to stand against. This is not principle. This is racism. 

The only other widely-recognized flag of Iran is the lion-and-sun flag pre-dating the Iranian revolution of 1979. In the last two-and-a-half years, this flag, associated with Iranian monarchists, has been spotted widely together with the flag of a government that has been found by the highest courts guilty of genocide, including the indiscriminate killing of children.  

Those who carry this flag, open supporters of Israel, the U.S., and the would be next-monarch Reza Pahlavi, openly celebrate the devastation of the unprovoked attacks of those two countries on the people of Iran. They have on multiple occasions attacked those they disagree with, verbally, physically, and online. Australia police have confirmed an incident regarding a vehicle sporting such a flag on the hood, ramming into the bus of the Iranian women’s football team, nearly all of whom have returned to Iran after being offered asylum in Australia. We ask whether Le Journal de Montreal, or Les Mères au front, would have questioned Ms. Barbe’s motivations had she been carrying the lion-and-sun flag. Would it be appropriate to carry such a flag at the women’s march? 

To make a point that should be obvious, carrying the flag of a country, unlike the article would have us believe, does not mean uncritical support of all of that country’s policies.  One may be a proud Canadian, or a proud Québecer, and at the same time take issue with specific policies of the governments of Quebec or Canada, or criticize some aspects of those countries’ history. For example, as Canadians, we should learn about this country’s history of genocide of native peoples, and commit to reparations of those harms. We don’t see people carrying the Canadian or Québecois flag being accused of supporting the destruction of the Indigenous peoples of these lands.   
 
We reject the framing of the article, and the response of your organization. We call on Les Mères au front to publicly apologize to Ms. Barbe for your misleading statements and the harm they have caused by defaming her and making her the subject of attacks in the public eye. 

We also hope that Les Mères au front will reconsider its public disassociation from Ms. Barbe and apologize for misjudging the situation. We reject the framing that demonizes Iran and its official flag, and casts prejudicial judgements of those who would carry it.  

We especially do not endorse the would-be Western saviours of Iranian and Muslim women, who are silent in the face of the devastation that war brings to those same women and their children.  

We recognize that when Iran and its people are under unprovoked attack, carrying the Iranian flag is an act of solidarity with its people.  
 
The Iranian Canadian Congress remains open to dialogue and is available for any further clarification.