US: Protests in Iran transcend ethnic and geographical boundaries and lack leadership
A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Tuesday, January 4, that the protests in Iran in recent months have transcended ethnic and geographical borders and lack a leader, which is why they have continued.
In response to a question about the US government's response to a joint tweet by a number of political figures opposing the Iranian government on New Year's Eve, Ned Price said: "First and foremost, this is a question for the Iranian people about how they want to organize themselves. What we have witnessed over the past few months of protests by the Iranian people has been remarkable in many ways, in the sense that it was sparked by the women and girls of Iran and in many ways they have driven it forward."
He added: "These (protests) have been organic, have crossed ethnic and geographical borders within Iran, and have been leaderless in a sense."
The US State Department spokesperson stated: "This is what has allowed the protesters to continue their efforts in a way that previous protests in Iran could not."
Ned Price continued by reiterating that it is up to “the Iranian people to decide how to organize their actions,” adding, “Our responsibility and role is to support freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and all the fundamental rights of the Iranian people.”
A number of opposition figures to the Islamic Republic outside Iran wrote on their social media pages on the occasion of the beginning of 2023: "2022 was a glorious year of solidarity among Iranians of every belief, language, and orientation. With organization and solidarity, 2023 will be the year of victory for the Iranian nation; the year of realizing freedom and justice in Iran."
Prince Reza Pahlavi, Golshifteh Farahani, Hamed Esmailiou, Nazanin Bonadi, Ali Karimi, and Masih Alinejad were among the publishers of this message.
Following the announcement of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Tehran's "Guidelines Patrol", Iranian cities have been the scene of nationwide protests unprecedented in the past four decades since September 16. According to human rights sources, including HRANA, at least 516 people have been killed during these protests in the past four months. Dozens of children have been identified among the dead.
"America is no longer focused on the nuclear deal"
Ned Price also said in response to a question about the revival of the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that the United States is no longer focused on reviving this agreement.
“The Iranians blew the opportunity for an easy return to the JCPOA,” a US State Department spokesman said. “They did so in September, when they walked away from a deal that by all accounts was essentially finalized. The JCPOA has not been on our agenda since then.”
Ned Price clarified that the United States is now focused on issues such as the fundamental freedoms of the Iranian people and confronting Iran's military participation with Russia in Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Yesterday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also considered the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic unsustainable and emphasized that the US government would increase pressure on the Islamic Republic.
In a leaked video in November on the sidelines of a campaign rally, Joe Biden explicitly said that the Iran nuclear deal was “dead.”
Source: Radio Farda
