US leader says he was ‘stunned’ by the demonstrations; Harris and Blinken, meeting with Iran activists, also express solidarity
US President Joe Biden said Friday he was “stunned” by the mass protests in Iran, which has seen its biggest wave of demonstrations in years after the death of a young woman arrested by morality police.
“I want you to know that we stand with the citizens, the brave women of Iran,” he said at a college in Irvine, California, addressing a group of protesters who had gathered holding “Free Iran” signs.
“It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I don’t think will be quieted for a long, long time,” said Biden.
The protests were sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
More than 100 people have been killed since, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.
The unrest has continued despite what Amnesty International called an “unrelenting brutal crackdown” that included an “all-out attack on child protesters” — leading to the deaths of at least 23 minors.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Iranian civil society activists in the Thomas Jefferson Room at the State Department in Washington, DC on October 14, 2022. – Iran’s president accused the US on October 13, 2022 of seeking to destabilize the Islamic republic, which has been rocked by nearly a month of women-led protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
Biden spoke briefly about the Iran protests ahead of a speech on lowering costs for American families in Irvine, near Los Angeles, which has a large Persian community.
“Women all over the world are being persecuted in various ways, but they should be able to wear in God’s name what they want to wear,” said Biden.
Iran “has to end the violence against its own citizens simply exercising their fundamental rights,” he added.
“I want to thank you all for speaking out,” he told the local Persian community.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and other top US leaders on Friday hailed women leading protests in Iran as they met activists originally from the country whose clerical leadership is waging a crackdown.
Iranians drive past a huge billboard which reads in Persian the women of my land, Iran in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, on October 14, 2022. – The billboard, originally showing a montage of Iranian women who all observed the hijab, was modified a day after it was raised amid women-led protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, following controversy mainly due to some of those featured asking for their pictures to be removed, local media reported. (Photo by AFP)
Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan each met with Nazanin Boniadi, the Iranian-born actress and human rights advocate.
Harris voiced “support for the brave women and girls leading peaceful protests in Iran to secure equal rights and basic human dignity,” the vice president’s office said in a statement.
The vice president “emphasized how the courage of these women protestors has inspired her as it has inspired the world.”
Blinken earlier led a roundtable to listen to overseas Iranians including Boniadi, known for her role in the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” as well as writer Roya Hakakian and gender equality activist Sherry Hakimi.
“In the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death and the spontaneous demonstration of outrage that this has produced, I think we are seeing something that is quite remarkable throughout the country, led primarily by women and young people,” Blinken said at the start of the meeting.
A woman takes part in a rally in support of Iranian women in Pristina on October 12, 2022. – A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since 22-year-old Masha Amini died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country’s strict rules on hijab headscarves and modest clothing. (Photo by Armend NIMANI / AFP)
Blinken was joined by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who has championed women’s rights, and Rob Malley, the US pointman on Iran who has led months of talks in a bid to restore a 2015 nuclear accord.
Hakakian said the group urged Biden’s administration to halt the talks, which could lead to an easing of sweeping sanctions on Iran if it returns to compliance with restrictions on its nuclear program.
“Our suggestion unanimously was to stop the nuclear talks until the violence stops. And I think everybody heard us loud and clear,” she told National Public Radio after the meeting.
White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that while the United States still backed the nuclear deal, it was unlikely that it would be revived “anytime in the near future.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric, has accused the United States of whipping up the protests to destabilize the Islamic republic.
Blinken said he anticipated similar accusations that his meeting showed the protests were coming from the outside.
“If that’s the case, if they genuinely believe that, they fundamentally — fundamentally — do not understand their own people,” Blinken said of the Iranian leadership. THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
