Iran slams Biden's 'interference' during protests

Iran has been rocked by protests since 22-year-old Amini's death on September 16


AFP October 16, 2022
A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS

Iran shrugged off on Sunday what it called US President Joe Biden's "interference" in the month-old protests since the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.

"Iran is too strong for its will to be swayed by the interference ... by a politician tired of years of failure," foreign affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani wrote on Instagram.

"We will together defend the independence of Iran."

Read more: Iran prison fire kills four, injures 61 as protests persist

Biden had said on Friday that "we stand with the citizens, the brave women of Iran.

"It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I don't think will be quieted for a long, long time," said the US president.

Iran has been rocked by protests since 22-year-old Amini's death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

Also read: 'Mullahs must get lost,' Iranians sing at new Mahsa Amini protests

The street violence has led to dozens of deaths, mostly among protestors but also among the security forces, and hundreds have of demonstrators been arrested.

On October 6, the United States slapped sanctions on seven senior Iranian officials for involvement in the crackdown.

The US Treasury last month also placed sanctions on the morality police.

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