Trump condemns ‘brutal and corrupt’ Iranian regime as death toll rises
UK calls for meaningful debate in Iran, respect for rights
WASHINGTON/LONDON: US President Donald Trump praised Iranian protesters on Tuesday for acting against Tehran’s “brutal and corrupt” regime after days of bloody unrest while the death toll from anti-government demonstrations that began last week rose to 21.
Nine Iranians were killed in Isfahan province during protests on Monday night, including two members of the security forces, state television said.
Six protesters were killed during an attack on a police station in the town of Qahderijan. The governor of Falavarjan County said the protesters were armed.
The deputy provincial governor of Tehran said police have arrested more than 450 protesters in the capital over the past three days as security forces struggle to contain the boldest challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership since unrest in 2009.
“The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime,” Trump tweeted, a day after calling for regime change in the Islamic republic.
“All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their ‘pockets.’ The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The US is watching!”
UK, Germany and the EU also expressed their concern over the unrest in Iran and the climbing death toll.
Britain
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Iran to engage in meaningful debate about issues raised by protesters which he said were “legitimate and important.” Johnson called for freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate peacefully to be respected
“The UK is watching events in Iran closely. We believe that there should be meaningful debate about the legitimate and important issues the protesters are raising and we look to the Iranian authorities to permit this,” he said in a post on Facebook.
France & Germany
“The right to protest is a fundamental right,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.
The spokesman said France is concerned by the number of victims and arrests in Iran.
Asked if Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian maintained a planned visit to Tehran, the spokesman said he had no information on this at this stage.
Germany also expressed its concern over the death of Iranian protestors.
“We appeal to the Iranian government to respect the rights of the demonstrators to assemble and to peacefully raise their voices,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Zolfaghari said 90 percent of the detainees were under 25-years-old, showing frustration among youths with the economic situation and lack of social freedoms.
A judiciary official was quoted as saying by ISNA that 20 ringleaders of protests in Karaj, the fourth largest city in Iran, have been arrested.
Iran’s judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani ordered prosecutors on Monday to “punish rioters firmly.”
The demonstrations, which broke out last week were initially focused on economic hardships and alleged corruption but turned into political rallies.
Anger was soon directed at the clerical leadership that has been in power since the 1979 revolution, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the ultimate authority in Iran’s system of dual clerical and republican rule.
Iran is a major oil producer and a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a regional power deeply involved in Syria and Iraq.
Many Iranians resent the foreign interventions and want their leaders to create jobs at home.
Government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said in a news conference that both protesters and the security forces should follow the law.