Pompeo: We Have Received 20,000 Messages, Videos and Photos Regarding Iran’s Government Persecution

Mike Pompeo says the U.S. State Department has so far received 20,000 messages, videos and photos from Iran in connection with persecution by the Islamic Republic regime during recent protests.

The U.S. Secretary of State said on Tuesday, December 24, during a press interview to reporters: “President Trump and I have been closely following the protests that recently took place across Iran. The Iranian people once again took to the streets to protest economic mismanagement.”

He emphasized that the Islamic Republic regime violently suppressed these protests and blamed foreign countries for these events.

Protests in Iran began on November 15 in protest against a gasoline price increase and quickly took on an anti-Islamic Republic character.

The U.S. Secretary of State continued his remarks saying: “The regime cut off internet access last week to prevent the spread of facts about these protests abroad. I asked Iranians to share their messages with the United States so we can sanction the regime’s repression.”

Mr. Pompeo stated: “So far we have received nearly 20,000 messages, videos, photos and notes about the regime’s repression through Telegram, and we hope Iranians will continue to be able to send their messages.”

He says the United States continues to “sanction officials who had a hand in this human rights violation,” “like what we did last week against the Minister of Communications and Information Technology.”

The U.S. Treasury Department last week placed Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on its sanctions list due to his role in cutting off the internet and announced that his assets in the United States would be frozen and confiscated.

Mr. Azari Jahromi, who had previously claimed to have no internet access, responded to this U.S. action on Twitter hours later.

He wrote: “I am not the only member of the sanctions club (based on Trump’s fairy tales). Before me, internet businesses, programmers, cancer patients and children with butterfly syndrome have been sanctioned. I will continue to defend internet access and will not allow the United States to hinder Iran’s development.”

The U.S. Secretary of State in another part of his remarks accused the Islamic Republic’s security forces of being involved in the assassination of an individual named Masoud Molavi in Istanbul and said that Iran continues to commit “brutality” outside its borders.

Mr. Pompeo clarified: “A dissident Iranian named Masoud Molavi, who had fled Iran to Turkey, was assassinated in Istanbul last week. Mr. Molavi’s killing is another tragic example of the series of assassinations that Iran is suspected of being involved in outside its own territory.”

According to him, “the brutality and malice of the Islamic Republic regime knows no international boundaries. The Iranian people have been dealing with a ruthless government for 40 years.”

Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said on December 15 in response to a question about Mr. Molavi’s assassination that we are awaiting reports from Turkey’s judicial and security apparatus in this regard.

The U.S. Secretary of State again emphasized in his continued remarks that “the United States supports the Iranian people’s efforts to achieve better governance.”

Meanwhile, Brian Hook, U.S. State Department Special Representative for Iran, had requested social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to suspend the user accounts of senior Iranian government officials including Ali Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani.

According to statistics from Amnesty International, at least 143 people have been killed in recent protests.

Also, Radio Farda’s summary of scattered statements by official authorities as well as reports from human rights organizations indicates that at least 4,800 people have been arrested in 18 provinces during recent protests in Iran.

Source: Radio Farda