Tuesday, after President Joe Biden threatened to impose “additional costs” over the US’s handling of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, Iran accused the US of being “hypocritical” over human rights.
Since the 22-year-old Kurdish woman passed away on September 16 following her arrest by Tehran’s morality police for allegedly breaking the Islamic republic’s strict clothing code for women, there has been uproar across Iran.
Numerous individuals have died as a result of the street violence, predominantly protestors but also security personnel, and hundreds have been detained.
“It would have been better for Mr. Joe Biden to think a little about the human rights record of his own country before making humanitarian gestures, although hypocrisy does not need to be thought through,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in an Instagram post, reported by Iranian media.
“The US president should be concerned about the numerous sanctions… against the Iranian nation, the sanctions whose imposition against any nation is a clear example of a crime against humanity,” he added.
Kanani was responding to a statement released by the White House late Monday in which Biden said he would impose unspecified additional measures against Iran later this week on top of the crippling sanctions already in force over Iran’s nuclear activities.
“This week, the United States will be imposing further costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters. We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely,” Biden said.
“The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery,” he added.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US and Israel of fomenting the unrest rocking the country.
“I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by America and the occupying, false Zionist regime, as well as their paid agents,” he said.
