September: students protesting at Tehran’s Amirkabir university [DARAFSH CC BY-SA 4.0]

THE power of sport should never be underestimated.

The image of Iranian players refusing to sing the national anthem in their World Cup game against England is just one example where a small act of defiance in a sporting event can send a big message.

Readers will be aware of ongoing protests in Iran, led by women, following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab in the correct way.

What is astonishing about the protests is the sheer bravery of young women and girls in the face of the most terrifying oppression and violence. Some 416 people, including 51 children, have been killed by the authorities during the protests.

The fight for freedom will never stop, and it is about more than just Iran and indeed the wider Middle East, as women and girls fight for basic human rights.

The Iranian diaspora in Camden is sizeable and I am proud to be a part of that community.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a Camden resident. The first and indeed only mayor of Iranian descent in England was a Camden mayor. And, right now, local Iranian communities want to do anything they can to help.

I urge us all to do more than express solidarity with the protesters. We can gawk at this courage and extol it with our words, but actions always speak the loudest.

At November’s full Camden Council meeting, I was pleased to announce that Lauderdale House in my ward has been awarded £20,000 from the Arts Council for a project next year, and is using a portion of it to engage with the local Iranian community to better understand why we flock to Waterlow Park every year to celebrate Nowruz, a secular Iranian holiday.

Because, while these actions seem small compared with the heroic efforts of the protesters in Iran, it is through these small steps that we can make our own contribution by showing that an Iranian culture exists outside the regime’s narrow definition of Islam.

In the words of the protesters in Farsi: “baraye zan, zendegy, azadi” – “for women, life, freedom”.

• Camron Aref-Adib is a Camden Labour councillor for Highgate ward.