Iran slams Biden for US ‘interference’ in anti-government protests

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran shrugged off 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.”

Biden had said 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,” added 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.

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