The United States “will be imposing further costs” on Iranian officials who promote violence against demonstrators participating in protests over the death of a Kurdish Iranian woman arrested by the Islamic Republic’s morality police for not wearing her hijab properly, US President Joe Biden said on Monday.
“The United States is making it easier for Iranians to access the Internet, including through facilitating greater access to secure, outside platforms and services. The United States is also holding accountable Iranian officials and entities, such as the morality police, that are responsible for employing violence to suppress civil society. This week, the United States will be imposing further costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protestors. We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
Biden said that he remains “gravely concerned about reports of the intensifying violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in Iran, including students and women, who are demanding their equal rights and basic human dignity.” He added: “The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery.”
Biden’s statement came hours after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the US and Israel for encouraging the protests in the Islamic Republic. They are his first comments on the protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in Tehran more than two weeks ago. “I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by America and the occupying, false Zionist regime, as well as their paid agents, with the help of some traitorous Iranians abroad,” he said. Khamenei said in his remarks that Amini’s death was “an accident” and that it “pained us,” and that her death was being used as an “excuse” to destabilize Iran.