Pompeo: We have received 20,000 messages, videos and photos about Iranian government harassment
Mike Pompeo says that the US State Department has so far received 20,000 messages, videos, and photos from Iran regarding the Islamic Republic's regime's persecution of recent protests.
The US Secretary of State told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday, December 25: "President Trump and I have been closely following the recent protests across Iran. The Iranian people have once again taken to the streets to protest economic mismanagement."
He emphasized that the Islamic Republic regime violently suppressed these protests and held foreign countries responsible for these incidents.
Protests in Iran began on November 14 in protest of the increase in gasoline prices and quickly took on a tone of anti-government sentiment against the Islamic Republic.
The US Secretary of State continued his remarks by saying: “The [Islamic Republic] regime cut off access to the internet last week to prevent the truth about these protests from being spread abroad. I have called on Iranians to share their messages with the United States to condemn 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 via Telegram, and we hope that Iranians will continue to send their messages."
He says the United States will continue to “sanction officials who were involved in these human rights violations,” “similar to what we did last week against the Minister of Communications and Information Technology.”
Last week, the US Treasury Department placed Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on its sanctions list for his involvement in the internet shutdown and announced that his assets in the United States would be frozen and confiscated.
Mr. Azari Jahromi, who had previously claimed that he did not have access to the internet, reacted to this US action on Twitter a few hours later.
“I am not the only member of the club of people who have been sanctioned (based on Trump’s fairy tales),” he wrote. “Before me, internet businesses, programmers, cancer patients, and butterfly children have been sanctioned. I will continue to defend access to the internet and will not allow the United States to hinder Iran’s development.”
In another part of his remarks, the US Secretary of State accused the Islamic Republic's security forces of being involved in the assassination of a person named Masoud Molavi in Istanbul and said that Iran continues to commit "atrocities" outside its borders.
Mr. Pompeo stated: “A dissident Iranian named Masoud Molavi, who had sought refuge in Turkey from Iran, was assassinated in Istanbul last week. Mr. Molavi’s murder is another tragic example of a string of assassinations that Iran is suspected of carrying out outside its territory.”
According to him, "The brutality and brutality of the Islamic Republic regime knows no international boundaries. The Iranian people have been confronting a ruthless government for 40 years."
On December 25, Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, in response to a question about the assassination of Mr. Molavi, said that we are awaiting a report from the Turkish judicial and security authorities in this regard.
The US Secretary of State continued his remarks by reiterating that "the United States supports the efforts of the Iranian people to achieve better governance."
Meanwhile, Brian Hook, the US State Department's special representative for Iran, had called on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to block the accounts of senior Iranian government officials, including Ali Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani.
According to Amnesty International, at least 143 people have been killed in recent protests.
Radio Farda's summary of scattered comments from official officials and reports from human rights organizations also indicates that at least 4,800 people have been arrested in 18 provinces of Iran during the recent protests in Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
