An Iranian activist who lost her eye after being shot by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests is criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris for her response to the recent bombings in Iran, as reported by The New York Post.

Mersedeh Shahinkar, a mother and activist now living in California, spoke about the issue in an interview with the California Post.

Shahinkar, who was injured during the Iranian government’s crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, addressed comments made by fellow activist Masih Alinejad during a recent Fox News interview.

During that appearance, Alinejad criticized Harris after the former vice president condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting Iran.

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“I am tired of seeing some politicians here in America, especially Democrats, making this about their own politics, scoring political points like Kamala Harris,” Alinejad said.

Harris released a statement last weekend following the operation that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with 40 senior security and regime officials at a fortified compound.

“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,” Harris wrote. She also described the strike as “a war the American people do not want.”

Shahinkar told the California Post that many Iranians believe Western political leaders have repeatedly failed to support the country’s pro-democracy movement.

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“For many years, we tried peaceful and democratic ways to demand change, or at least reform,” Shahinkar said.

She said those efforts mirror the same approach Western politicians often recommend to activists.

“The same methods that some members of the Democratic Party and leftists are now teaching us,” she continued. “But I ask them: Where were you?”

Shahinkar referenced protests that spread across Iran earlier this year.

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“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?”

According to Shahinkar, the demonstrations were called by exiled Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi. Members of the Iranian diaspora also attempted to bring international attention to the unrest.

“Since January 8, we in the Iranian diaspora have left thousands of comments and messages on their accounts,” Shahinkar said, referring to Kamala Harris as well as former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

“We respectfully begged them to raise their voices for innocent children and young people whose internet access was cut off by the regime.”

She said those appeals received little response.

“They did not even say a word of sympathy to maintain their mask of humanity.”

Shahinkar also spoke about the broader debate surrounding the conflict and criticism of military action against Iran.

“Every time we see a flash, a glimmer of hope of people longing for freedom, I think we have to point it out. We have to shine a spotlight on it. We have to express some solidarity about it,” she said.

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Later in the interview, she addressed anti-war slogans commonly used by critics of the strikes.

“Yes, ‘No War’ is a good slogan,” Shahinkar said. “No one loves war in the world.”

However, she argued that the slogan often ignores the violence faced by Iranians inside the country.

“Where were you when we were shot in our eyes and faces? When they lashed us, harassed us, and tortured us?”

According to Shahinkar, peaceful demonstrations have repeatedly been met with harsher crackdowns by the Iranian government.

“Every time we used democratic methods, the result was only stronger repression, severe slaughter, and more executions,” she said.

She also warned about the potential consequences if the Iranian regime continues expanding its military capabilities.

“Imagine the brutality we have endured from a regime that opens fire with live ammunition on its own unarmed youth,” Shahinkar said.

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“If such a regime obtains nuclear weapons or long-range missiles, what would it do to you and to other countries in the world?”

Shahinkar said the Iranian government frequently uses hostile rhetoric directed at other nations.

“These are countries to which the regime constantly sends chants of death,” she said.

For Shahinkar and many others in the Iranian diaspora, the current conflict is viewed differently than it is by many Western political figures.

“Imagine a regime that kills tens of thousands of its own people in a matter of days,” Shahinkar said.

“For many Iranians, what is happening now is not seen as war — but as rescue.”

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