Islamic Republic Officials Condemn Paris Protest Response but Ignore Their Own Human Rights Violations

While criticism of the Islamic Republic has intensified in recent days over human rights violations in Iran, Islamic Republic officials have condemned the French government’s handling of recent unrest.

In recent days, the US Secretary of State, the State Department’s Twitter account, and the department’s Persian Twitter account posted messages about widespread human rights violations in Iran, but instead of responding to these issues, the Islamic Republic, in defense of French protesters, has demanded “restraint from France” in dealing with protesters; a move that has faced objections.

In the latest response from Islamic Republic officials, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, head of Iran’s Judiciary, on Monday described recent unrest in France as a continuation of the “Islamic Awakening wave” that, according to Iran’s leader’s predictions, has reached European countries. Iranian officials have asked France to allow people to express their views freely.

Iranian state television also attempted to compare French protests with Iran in a news segment, but did not broadcast images of protests inside Iran.

Previously, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson had also recommended that the French government show “restraint” in dealing with protesters.

Islamic Republic, Major Accused in Human Rights Violations

These statements by Islamic Republic institutions come at a time when Iran itself has repeatedly been criticized by international bodies for widespread human rights violations.

In recent protests, including those by workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar cane group and nationwide truckers’ strikes, many protesters were arrested by Iranian security forces, and heavy sentences were imposed on some of them. The judicial system has even repeatedly threatened to issue death sentences against defendants.

Islamic Republic, A History of Opportunism

Reza Haghightnezad, a journalist, in an interview with the Voice of America’s Persian service, described the Iranian officials’ approach to recent events in France as a “precedent-setting opportunism” in the behavior of the Islamic Republic’s leaders, which has been seen before in the Arab Spring events and British incidents.

The journalist stated: The Islamic Republic, with this opportunistic approach, intends to say that you Westerners behave like us, and even tries to emphasize through exaggeration and focus on specific points that basically the Islamic Republic’s behavior has been more humane than Western countries.

Haghightnezad, noting that Iran’s leader has repeatedly emphasized that the Islamic Republic has a “creditor-like language” in human rights positions, continued: The Islamic Republic with such an approach seeks to legitimize its actions or normalize its violent behavior toward Iranian citizens; especially after 2009 events when the Islamic Republic’s violent handling of protesters against the presidential election results faced many objections worldwide.

These reactions are noteworthy because the Islamic Republic has for years used security, intelligence, and police measures in dealing with public protests. The 2009 presidential election events are one such example.

The Islamic Republic’s handling of protesters resulted in the deaths of many, but to this day no institution has been held accountable for the death of individuals such as “Neda Agha-Soltan.”

Last December’s events are another such occurrence, which according to Human Rights Watch reports resulted in at least 30 deaths, but government institutions did not release accurate figures on the death of protesters.

Source: Voice of America