Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a stark warning to anyone thinking of protesting against the country’s theocratic regime on the eve of the first anniversary of the arrest of Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody sparked demonstrations across Iran.
Raisi, a protégé of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blamed the West for last fall’s uprising, which was sparked after Amini, a 22-year-old aspiring lawyer, was arrested on September 13, 2022 and allegedly beaten to death for three days. later by Iran’s moral police for not wearing his hijab correctly.
“[T]“Those who try to abuse the name of Mahsa Amini, under the pretext of being an agent of foreigners, to create this instability in the country, we know what will happen to them,” said Raisi, during an interview with the “NBC Nightly News” host. , Lester. Holt on Tuesday.
“And they know that endangering the safety of people and society will come at a great cost.”
Raisi downplayed Amini’s death, calling it an “incident” and denounced the women’s freedom protests, which led to the deaths of nearly 500 protesters, as “a project against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Raisi accused the West of using Amini’s death to wage a “hybrid war” against the Iranian regime.AFP via Getty Images
“The same incidents happen every day in the United States and in European cities. The Islamic Republic of Iran responded quickly and followed up on the matter,” Raisi said.
“But I would like to mention the fact that some countries, such as some European countries and the United States, were using this incident as a project against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was a hybrid war and a cognitive war. It was a political war. “It was an economic war, a media war and a psychological war against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
Tehran has prepared for a possible outbreak of protests by setting up instant checkpoints, disrupting Internet access and purging universities of professors who have supported the protesters, according to the Associated Press.
The grim anniversary of Amini’s arrest and death will come the same week that the Biden administration announced it has unfrozen $6 billion in Iranian assets as part of a broader deal to secure the release of five American detainees.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who signed the sanctions waiver last week to clear the way for the deal, stressed that the funds could only be used for humanitarian purposes.
“Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need, so this money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government,” Raisi said, when asked by Holt how the windfall will be used. .
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Source: vtt.edu.vn