Biden said he was overwhelmed by the protest movement sparked by the death of young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.
It unleashed something in Iran that I don’t think will subside for a long, long time, he emphasized during a visit to California yesterday.
Biden arrived in the city of Irvine, Southern California, to give a speech on a completely different topic – the cost of health care in the United States. At the sight of a group of demonstrators holding up placards reading “Free Iran”, however, he turned his attention first to the protests that have erupted in Iran since the September 16 death of Iranian Kurdish woman Amini, three days after she was arrested by morality police for violating dress codes.
Women should be able to wear what they want, for God’s sake. Iran must end the violence against its own citizens who are simply enjoying their basic rights, he added.
In addition to the president, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who met with representatives of the Iranian diaspora in the country, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who invited actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi, expressed their support for the protests in Iran yesterday.
“We’re witnessing something remarkable across the country, and it’s being led mostly by women and young people,” Blinken said.
Harris, in turn, said that the courage of these women has inspired both her and the world, and promised Boniadi Washington’s cooperation “to ensure that these important voices are heard, including by facilitating access to the Internet ” in Iran.
