Mersedeh Shahinkar, an Iranian woman who took part in the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests and lost her eye after being shot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, recently called out former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris over her statement on the U.S.-Israel joint strikes on Iran.
Shahinkar, a mother and activist based in California, spoke about Harris while reflecting on fellow activist Masih Alinejad’s Fox News interview. Alinejad slammed Harris for condemning the bombings in Iran.
“I am tired of seeing some politicians here in America, especially Democrats, making this about their own politics, scoring political points like Kamala Harris,” she said during the interview.
Last weekend, Harris took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize Donald Trump for “dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want.” “Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice,” she said, hours after the US and Israel attacked Iran and killed the nation’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
While Harris acknowledged that she knows “the threat that Iran poses,” and asserted that “they may never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” she also mentioned, “this is not the way to dismantle that threat.”
Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want. Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.
Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/JmxZaC8vBr
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 28, 2026
Speaking to the California Post, Mersedeh Shahinkar, who is still reeling from the effects of Iran’s crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, said many Iranians feel politicians from Western countries have consistently failed to support Iran’s pro-democracy movement.
“For many years, we tried peaceful and democratic ways to demand change, or at least reform,” she said, adding, “The same methods that some members of the Democratic Party and leftists are now teaching us.”
“But I ask them: Where were you?” Shahinkar asked. “Where were you when more than 30,000 people were slaughtered in early 2026, when millions of people went to peaceful protests with their children in 300 cities across Iran?” she continued, referring to the mass protests that took over the streets of Iran earlier this year.
Im mersedeh shahinkar
Im protester
Please help iranian ppl
The Islamic Republic of Iran is killing and blinding my people.
Help us @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Tlvf60ej3P
— MersedeH_eye (@mersedeh_eye) January 10, 2026
Shahinkar also claimed that many Iranians sought help from politicians like Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama through social media, but their pleas were allegedly ignored.
“Since January 8, we in the Iranian diaspora have left thousands of comments and messages on their accounts. We respectfully begged them to raise their voices for innocent children and young people whose internet access was cut off by the regime,” she shared.
“They did not even say a word of sympathy to maintain their mask of humanity,” Shahinkar concluded.
