'You need to say we are here because of the Iranian regime': Greens councillor quits party over Middle East

Tina Kordrostami's departure is the latest defection from the minor party this year.

Greens councillor Tina Kordrostami has resigned from the party.

Kordrostami, who was elected to represent Central Ward on Ryde City Council in Sydney at last year's local elections, has confirmed that she left the minor party last month over issues in the Middle East.

In an interview with The Australian, Kordrostami, who was born in Iran and is a "staunch advocate for Palestinians and broader human rights", said she "tried instead to educate everyone internally, talking about the Iranian regime...but it was just getting worse and worse".

"When this year the war broke out in Iran, things escalated and that was the breaking point for me. I told [the Greens] you need to say 'we are also here because of the actions of the [Iranian] regime over four decades'...at very least say 'we stand against Israel and Islamic regime', you need to be very specific and they…were refusing to do so".

Kordrostami also told The Weekly Times that her departure "was not impulsive or politically convenient...my concerns were based on lived experience, on the voices of my constituents, and on values I have upheld long before joining any party".

The Ryde-Epping Greens say that Kordrostami should resign from council, noting that the party had previously called for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be listed as a terrorist organisation, saying these "are not the actions or statements of sympathisers".

The resignation comes not long after two Victorian Greens councillors quit the party, all for differing reasons.