Exclusive: US Special Envoy Says He Chose The Wrong Words On Iran Protests
US Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley told Iran International Monday that a tweet he sent on Iran protests, which led to negative reactions, “was poorly worded.”
US Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley told Iran International Monday that a tweet he sent on Iran protests, which led to negative reactions, “was poorly worded.”
“It is not up to me; it is not up to the US government what the brave women and men who have been demonstrating in Iran want. It is up to them,” Malley told our correspondent Samira Gharaei.
In a tweet earlier on Sunday he had said that Iranians were protesting to have the Islamic Republic “respect their human rights and dignity.”
Iranian activists objected to this sentence, saying Iranians have proven in the past five weeks that they reject the clerical regime and want a new, democratic government and not respect from an oppressive regime.
Malley went on to say in his interview that what the Biden Administration has been doing is voicing as strong a support as possible “for the fundamental rights of the Iranian people.”
Asked about calls by some Iranians for him to resign, Malley said, “There always would be criticism of what we do…but we’re gonna do what we can to support fundamental rights of the Iranian people. That’s what I’m here to do and will continue doing.”
Asked to comment on what is the US government’s assessment about why Iranians are protesting and what is their goal, Malley avoided a clear answer, saying, “That is not up to us to decide…the Iranian people will make clear why they are angry at the regime…but they will speak for themselves.”
The Biden Administration indirectly negotiated with Tehran for 17 months to revive the Obama-era nuclear deal known as the JCPOA. Many Iranian Americans who have been galvanized and mobilized by the protests feel that the administration might be hesitating to recognize the movement as one that rejects the Islamic Republic and aspires to replace the regime with a democratic form of government.
Although the administration has said that it is “not focused” on the nuclear talks anymore and is trying to help the Iranian people, some are still concerned that the shift might be just temporary and the US might sign a new nuclear deal with Iran, which would release tens of billions of dollars to an authoritarian government that will use the money to suppress the protests.
But Malley emphasized that the Biden team is determined to impose sanctions on Iranian officials who are responsible for violence against the people and reiterated that more designations are on the way.
More US sanctions will further reduce the chances for a deal, as Tehran has already demanded older non-nuclear sanctions to be removed as a pre-condition.
But the lead US diplomat on Iran made it clear that Washington has not been in touch with Tehran despite claims by Iran’s foreign minister that the negotiations are ongoing with messages being exchanged.
“Right now, our message would be; number one, stop killing your own people, and number two, stop providing weapons to Russia to kill innocent Ukrainians.”
The US, its European allies and Ukraine say that Russia is using Iranian supplied drones to attack civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Already, both US and European countries have announced sanctions related to the drone issue.
Malley also reiterated that the “JCPOA is not on the agenda right now” and the US is focused on the brutal crackdown by the Iranian regime on its people and its supply of drones to Russia that are used against civilians.
Social media users say one of the girls was shoved against the wall by one of the staff at the school at Karoun Street in southwestern Tehran when she and her classmates protested to humiliating body searches for mobile phones and the other was injured at a later stage when security forces were called in by the school to stop the students’ protest and chanting.
Reports say the principal had forced the girls to strip down to their underwear to search for their cell phones and the children tried to resist the body search and started chanting against her.
An ambulance arrived later and took both girls to Loghman Hospital nearby. These reports also claim that one of the girl injured by the principal had a seizure and is in hospital in critical condition.
People gathered outside the school and chanted after parents were informed by children and rushed to the school to collect them. Neighborhood shops shut down and trash bins were set on fire on the street by chanting locals. According to some social media reports a number of the children were still trapped inside the school hours after the incident.
An official from Education Ministry said a groups of students and parents have “clashed with the school principal due to the principal's insistence on inspecting girls for cellphones.”
“No student died in this incident. some students experienced a drop in blood pressure, but the EMS took care of the situation,” added this official.
A video on social media shows over a dozen riot police in front of the school beating up some of the angry parents.
Another video shows a group of parents in front of the school while an ambulance is parked outside the courtyard.
Witnesses say on social media that security forces used paintball guns and shotgun birdshots to disperse the protesters.
In another video security forces fired tear gas forcing the shopkeepers to close their stores and stay inside.
Some other reports also suggest that the lights in the streets around the school have been turned off.
According to eyewitnesses, security officers were shooting at the windows of houses and cars in the area.
In a latest move, officials at Sharif University in Tehran have expelled students who have been at the forefront of protests.
“A number of students who have played a key role in stirring up unrest at university have been temporarily banned from attending the courses,” Sharif university said in an announcement.
They also stated that the canteen of the university would be closed until further notice to uphold gender segregation and prevent mixed dining by male and female students, which has become an act of civil disobedience by students.
Reports say up to now 33 students have been banned from entering Sharif university.
On Sunday, the plainclothes Basiji forces of Sharif University closed the doors of the canteen and placed tables and chairs behind it, blocking students from entering, but the students broke the doors and expelled the Basijis and ate together.
Avant-Garde Student Movement
Since the beginning of the protest movement in mid-September, university students have opened a new chapter of their struggle against the clerical regime with the modern slogan of “Women, Life, Liberty”.
Female students wave their headscarves in the air or stand in front of security forces without their mandatory hijab.
Perseverance and resistance of the students clearly shows that the repressive approach by the government will not work in against this generation born after 2000. Even if the clerical regime can silence their voices for a few days, it cannot stop their fundamental demands.
Students are sending a message to people across the country that the university as a civil institution is still dynamic and alive, despite the policy of expulsion, censorship, and efforts to depoliticize the university.
The dynamism and political awakening also send a clear message to government that students will not remain silent despite repression.
History of Academic Movements in Iran
To reach this point, the university and students experienced many ups and downs during the past three decades. Their movement has been interrupted sometimes due to repression, but it has never been stopped.
In 1999, a student uprising stunned the Iranian capital Tehran for five days. Students objecting to the shutdown of Salam Daily held protests in a struggle for freedom. Between July 8 and 13, the hardliners cracked down on student killing four and injuring nearly 200.
During the following few years many students preferred to leave the country in a dramatic brain drain.
In 2009, the universities were affected by a controversial presidential election. With the formation of the Green Movement and the slogan of “Give back my vote”, students once again took to the streets to protest vote rigging which led to re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
Protests lasted all through the fall of 2009 and hundreds of students were arrested and tortured in prisons around the country, with former inmates alleging mass rape of men, women, and children by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in prisons such as Kahrizak and Evin. Opposition groups said at least 72were killed in the three months following the election.
Ten years later in November 2019, students once again joined the protesters who were angry over an abrupt fuel price hike. The movement, which lasted a week, gradually turned into expression of discontent over economic woes and corruption.
In the most violent and severe antigovernment unrest since the rise of Iran’s Islamic Republic in 1979, the regime shut down the internet nationwide and killed as many as 1,500 people including students.
More Widespread, Modern, Radical in 2022
Now, with nationwide protests rejecting Islamic Republic after the death of Mahsa Amini last month, students nationwide have launched a new movement to stand against the political system.
The attack of Basiji thugs and security forces on Sharif University in September provoked a wave of sympathy in other universities.
It seems this is the largest and most widespread student solidarity with public protests that has spread even to small campuses in remote areas of Iran.