US calls on Tehran to respect protestors’ rights

Screengrab from a video of a protest in Iran's capital Tehran on July 26, 2021. (Photo: Mohamad Ahwaze/Twitter)
Screengrab from a video of a protest in Iran's capital Tehran on July 26, 2021. (Photo: Mohamad Ahwaze/Twitter)

WASHINGTON, DC (Kurdistan 24) – The US State Department called on the Iranian government to respect the rights of its citizens to protest and freely express their political views. 

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price issued a statement on Wednesday noting that Iranian protests that began with a water shortage in Khuzestan province have now spread to multiple cities, including Tehran, Karaj and Tabriz.

Khuzestan is in Iran’s southwest, bordering Iraq, and inhabited largely by Arabs. Karaj is a little more than 50 kilometers west of the capital, Tehran, while Tabriz lies in the north.

Last week, major international NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, strongly criticized the response of the Iranian regime to the protests.

“Iranian authorities appear to have used excessive force against demonstrators in southwestern Iran protesting lack of access to water,” HRW said.  

Since July 15, as HRW explained, “people in dozens of towns and cities in Khuzestan province” have “taken to the street every evening to protest difficulties with accessing water.”

Iran has responded with force. At least three protestors have been shot by police, while at least 18 “local activists” have been arrested, HRW said. 

It also reported that the Iranian government had restricted access to the internet. “Internet shutdowns violate multiple rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and access to information and the rights to peaceful assembly and association,” HRW stated.

The following day, Amnesty International issued a similar statement, calling on Iranian authorities “to immediately cease the use of automatic weapons and shotguns firing birdshot, which are indiscriminate, cause grievous and painful injuries and are completely inappropriate for use in all policing situations.”

Amnesty estimated the death toll among protestors and bystanders to be at least eight.

The Voice of America added more details about the anti-government protests—the first in 18 months. 

The protestors in Tehran shouted slogans against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and against the entire political system of post-revolutionary Iran, VOA reported on Monday.

Their chants included, “Death to the dictator,” “Shame on Khamenei, let go of the country,” and “Cannons, tanks, fireworks, mullahs must go,” VOA said.

The protestors also voiced their opposition to Iran’s expansionist regional policy with the slogan, “Neither for Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life only for Iran.”

The US condemns “the use of violence against peaceful protestors,” Price affirmed on Wednesday, and “we support the rights of Iranian to peacefully assemble and express themselves, without fear of violence and detention by security forces.” 

However, it remained unclear what Washington will actually do if the regime continues to suppress the protests.

Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, Chief Justice of Iran until his victory in last month’s presidential elections, is set to take office on Aug. 5. There is a significant chance that he will adopt a tougher stance toward the protestors than Iran’s outgoing administration.