Iran

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19 June 2009
Iranian Demonstrations “Extraordinary,” White House Says

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

 • President Obama's Statement on Iran

Washington — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said ongoing demonstrations in protest of the official results of Iran’s June 12 presidential election show a “ferment of productive change” happening by Iranians inside Iran.

Speaking June 19, Gibbs told reporters: “I think you’re definitely witnessing something extraordinary. I think you’re witnessing something that many people might not have presumed or imagined … even a few weeks or a few days ago.”

In his remarks June 15 with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President Obama said he was “deeply troubled” by the violence against the Iranian demonstrators that he had seen in news reports, and said the right to free speech and the ability to peacefully dissent are universal values and should be respected.

“It would be wrong for me to be silent about what we’ve seen on the television over the last few days,” Obama said. “What I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was.”

Directing his remarks to Iranian young people, Obama said he wants them to know that “we in the United States do not want to make any decisions for the Iranians, but we do believe that the Iranian people and their voices should be heard and respected.”

On June 16, the president told CNBC News that Iran’s leadership must answer questions from its citizens about the government’s credibility. “When you’ve got a hundred thousand people who are out on the streets, peacefully protesting, and they’re having to be scattered through violence and gunshots, what that tells me is the Iranian people are not convinced of the legitimacy of the elections,” he said.

“My hope is that the regime responds not with violence but with a recognition that the universal principles of peaceful expression and democracy are ones that should be affirmed,” the president said.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said June 19 that, as a general principle, the Obama administration “would hold any government authorities responsible for any atrocities perpetrated against peaceful demonstrators.” He said the right of the Iranian people to peacefully assemble “needs to be respected.”

P.J. Crowley, the State Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said June 18 that U.S. officials still have only a “grainy picture” of what is happening inside Iran and are looking at events from a distance. “This is a reflection of the fact that we’ve had difficult and strained relations with Iran going back 30 years.”

In other countries where international election monitors can witness the polling and vote counts, “you’d be able to both see firsthand what’s going on, be able to document actions that those involved in the political process would take, and how the government would respond to that,” Crowley said.

“We have some means of understanding what is happening there, but certainly, given the nature of Iranian society today, do we have a full picture? I don’t think so,” he said.

On June 19, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 405-1 in support of “all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and the rule of law.” The U.S. Senate passed an identical resolution. According to the text, U.S. congressmen condemned the “ongoing violence” against the demonstrators and the Iranian government’s interference with the Internet and cell phones. The lawmakers also affirmed “the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections.”

Representative Mike Pence (Republican from Indiana) and Representative Howard Berman (Democrat from California) introduced the House resolution. In his remarks on the House floor, Pence said, “There is no intention here to pick sides in the Iranian election. There is an intention here, in a true spirit of bipartisanship, to allow the American people to be on the side of liberty and to be on the side of freedom.”

Press secretary Gibbs welcomed the resolution June 19, saying it is “consistent with what the president has said.”

ISLAMIC SOCIETY CONDEMNS ARRESTS IN IRAN

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest Muslim organization in America, called on Iran’s government to release political prisoners recently arrested in connection with the demonstrations. In a June 19 statement, the organization said it is troubled by the arrest of 500 journalists, opposition leaders and human rights activists , including former Deputy Prime Minister Ebrahim Yazdi. Yazdi reportedly has been released due to his poor health, but others remain in detention.

ISNA urged the Iranian government to respect the civil rights of both the media and political activists, as well as “the rights of all individuals to exercise their freedom of expression and peaceful protest.” It said these rights are affirmed through Islamic values and traditions and are guaranteed by Iran’s Constitution.

The full text of the House resolution is available on America.gov.

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