US, UK criticize crackdowns on protests in Iran

Shafaq News/ Britain’s foreign ministry on Monday said it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain, over the crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody.

“The violence levelled at protesters in Iran by the security forces is truly shocking,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

“Today we have made our view clear to the Iranian authorities – instead of blaming external actors for the unrest, they should take responsibility for their actions and listen to the concerns of their people.”

The White House on Monday denounced the crackdown by Iranian security forces against peaceful protests in Iran, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“We’re alarmed and appalled by reports of security authorities’ responding to university students’ peaceful protests with violence and mass arrests,” she told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to Puerto Rico.

Jean-Pierre said university students in Iran are “rightly enraged” by her death and that the weekend crackdowns are the type of events that prompt young people in Iran to leave the country “and seek dignity and opportunity elsewhere.”

She gave no indication that the crackdown would impact US efforts to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal, which then President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.