You don’t speak for us!
An Iranian-American lawyer and popular TikToker is bashing Iran and its clueless defenders clamoring for war with Israel — arguing everyday Iranians know what ruthless Tehran is really like and begging for peace.
“In what capacity have you distorted the story to make the Islamic Republic the victim?” Elica Le Bon, a British-born, American-educated lawyer, incredulously asks “woke’’ Iran sympathizers in the powerful anti-war TikTok video Sunday.
“When we were screaming that they were killing Iranian women for not wearing a hijab, where were you?” Le Bon demands to know in the video, which has gone viral with more than 1 million views.
“When they were lynching Iranian men from cranes for protesting, where were you? When we were explaining that it’s a terrorist occupying force, where were you?” said the lawyer, who has 300,000 followers.
“But all of a sudden everyone’s graduated from Instagram school of law to say that it’s a violation of international law and Iran has the right to defend itself,” she seethed.
Le Bon, who has used her online clout to combat Iranian propaganda and disinformation, blasted supporters of the Iranian regime who were in favor of its drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday.
The lawyer insisted that what Iran’s hardliner theocratic government does “is not a reflection of the Iranian people.
“We’ve been clear about what we want, which is peace,” she said.
She bristled at Iran’s claim that the Israeli bombing of its compound in Damascus on April 1 was an act of war, pointing out that it came after Iran terror proxy Hamas launched a murderous attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and as Lebanese terror ally Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel “on a near daily basis” ever since.
“Iranians don’t want war with Israel,’’ Le Bon said. “We want peace with Israel. Iranian people inside of Iran have come out and said this over, and over and over again.’’
Le Bon further argued that far from being the victim, Iran was the aggressor responsible for creating Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as the Houthis in Yemen, for the sole purpose of destabilizing the region.
“Did you think they were there to instigate a system of public schooling and education, to feed the poor, house the unhoused? What did you think that they were there for?” she sarcastically remarked.
The lawyer starts out her clip by saying, “Hi, Iranian woman here.
“It’s become very apparent that you haven’t been listening to anything that we’ve had to say for the past two years, but I was wondering if you could just lend me a few minutes of your time in this ungodly hour to hear us now.”
The influencer then also raked Tehran apologists over the coals for supporting the attack on Israel while turning a blind eye to the mass protests led by Iranian women demanding reforms at home — some who have been jailed or killed for their activism.
Several high-profile incidents in recent years, such as the September 2022 death of Masha Amini, have highlighted the gulf between the repressive regime’s hardline leadership and ordinary Iranian citizens.
Amini, 22, died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for violating the Islamic republic’s strict hijab rules. Some witnesses said she was beaten inside a van taking her to a detention center.
Protests rocked the streets of Tehran and beyond in the wake of Amini’s death, resulting in the regime reportedly abolishing the morality police by early December.
The Israeli government is still weighing its options on how to respond to Saturday’s attack, which saw more than 300 drones and missiles rain down on its territory, leaving a 7-year-old girl seriously injured.
World leaders were swift to condemn the rogue Islamic state’s aerial bombardment of Israel, but many including President Biden urged the key US ally to be measured in its response to avoid escalation.
In a statement Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned Israel and its allies that any “reckless behavior” in retaliation for the missile and drone strike would be met with “a decisive and much stronger response.”
According to reports, Israel’s war cabinet decided Monday evening that it would strike back at Iran “clearly and forcefully,” though it was not immediately clear when or how Israeli forces would be delivering their response.
Additional reporting by Chris Nesi
