President Joe Biden extended his support Friday to the ongoing protests in Iran, saying he thinks the reaction to Mahsa Amini’s death has opened the floodgates for lasting change in the theocratic country.
Biden opened his speech in Irvine, California, with his comments about the protests after seeing someone in the crowd with a “Free Iran” sign.
“I want you to know we stand with the citizens and brave women of Iran, for real,” the president said.
“Mahsa Amini’s death was ― I’ve been doing foreign policy a long time. It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It’s awakened something I don’t think will be quieted in a long, long time,” he added.
Amini, 22, died last month in Tehran while in the custody of Iran’s morality police, who arrested her for improperly wearing her hijab ― a head-covering worn by some Muslim women ― as mandated by Iranian law. Witnesses say they saw police severely beating Amini upon arresting her before bringing her to the police station, where she collapsed before dying in a hospital three days later.
Officials deny beating her and are blaming her death on a heart attack. Her father, Amjad Amini, however, said he wasn’t allowed to see her body at the hospital but caught a glimpse of bruising on her foot.
The incident set off massive protests across Iran and fueled outrage over the mandatory hijab law, lack of freedoms for women, the morality police and the entire system of government. They’ve lasted for nearly a month and show no signs of slowing down.
“Right now, they’re demonstrating to secure their very basic fundamental rights. Women and men should have the right to freedom of expression and assembly,” Biden said, adding that “no one should be telling them what to wear.”
Iranian authorities have turned to aggressive and violent tactics to tamp down protests, resulting in at least 200 protester deaths, including 23 children, according to Iran Human Rights. The government has also imposed an internet blackout and blocked social media platforms amid the demonstrations.
“Iran has to end the violence against its own citizens simply exercising their fundamental rights,” Biden said Friday.