CIA Director: The Scope and Breadth of Protests in Iran Surprised Us
William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), emphasized the United States government’s commitment to ensuring Iranian people’s access to the internet amid nationwide protests.
Mr. Burns said in an interview with CBS News that the United States considers itself committed to supporting “the free flow of information.”
In response to the question of whether the current protests in Iran are “limited and scattered events or the beginning of a revolution,” he said: “I don’t think these are scattered protests. What surprised me and our analysts here at the CIA is the scope and breadth of the protests.”
The CIA director emphasized: “They are extraordinarily courageous people, young women who are extraordinarily courageous and frustrated in many ways. They are willing to take the risk of participating in protests because they are fed up with economic decline, corruption and social restrictions – particularly restrictions imposed against Iranian women in the Islamic Republic – as well as political repression.”
Mr. Burns clarified: “We are dealing with an authoritarian government that is skilled in suppressing people, and you know they are now completely ruthless.”
The CBS presenter, referring to Iran’s government action to cut off people’s internet access during the protests and the possibility of providing Starlink satellite internet to Iranians, asked the CIA director whether the United States government is helping to get Starlink terminals into the country.
William Burns replied: The United States government has explicitly stated that it supports the free flow of information and freedom of internet, and commits itself to it.
Concurrently with protest rallies over Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody at a morality patrol detention, and internet cuts and slowdowns in cities where protests are taking place, a group of Republican and Democratic representatives in the U.S. Congress, in a letter to the Treasury Secretary, asked him to immediately approve the request if Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, requested to provide Starlink satellite internet to Iran.
Following this request, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on October 1st that it had issued a license to expand internet services for Iranians.
But last week, Elon Musk said that special terminals need to be installed inside the country for Iranian users to use Starlink satellite internet.
William Burns said in an interview with CBS News that he would not go into the details on this matter.
In this regard, Google activated its new tool yesterday to bypass filtering in Iran.
Upon entering Google’s homepage in Persian, a text appears about how to use the Outline tool with the aim of creating a “VPN” for users.
Google had previously announced that following the issuance of new Treasury Department licenses, it would provide its tools to bypass filtering in Iran.
Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl from Saqqez who died in police custody during detention by a morality patrol, many cities in Iran have witnessed protest demonstrations over the past two weeks. Despite severe suppression of protesters during this period, a state of insecurity continues to prevail in many parts of the country.
Source: Radio Farda
