Joe Biden says US will impose further costs on Iran amid protest crackdowns

• Biden expresses “deep worry” over reports of an increasing crackdown on nonviolent protestors in Iran.
• Mahsa Amini was arrested by the morality police in Tehran on September 13 for “unsuitable attire” and died in detention.
• Hundreds of Iranians have taken to the streets since her funeral.

President Joe Biden announced on Monday that the United States would impose more costs on Iranian authorities responsible for violence against anti-government protesters following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan, was arrested by the morality police in Tehran on September 13 for “unsuitable attire” and died in detention.

On September 17, within hours of her funeral in the Kurdish village of Saqez, hundreds of Iranians took to the streets around the country. The police and the volunteer Basij militia, and other security forces, have quelled the protesters. Rights groups estimate that around 130 people have died.

Biden issued a statement in which he expressed “deep worry” over reports of an increasing crackdown on nonviolent protestors in Iran and promised a speedy reaction.

“This week, the United States will be imposing further costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters. We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely,” Joe Biden stated.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that university students in Iran are “rightly enraged” by Amini’s death and that the weekend crackdowns are the type of events that encourage young Iranians to leave the nation “and seek dignity and opportunity elsewhere.”

She offered no indication that the crackdown will affect U.S. diplomatic efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.

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