President Raeisi: Violent suppression of anti-Zionist student protests shows West’s true colors
Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi has vehemently slammed the heavy-handed crackdown against pro-Palestine student protests in Western universities, especially in the United States, saying it has laid bare the true nature of Western civilization.
Raeisi made the remarks while addressing a meeting of his cabinet on Sunday.
The Iranian president described violent suppression of anti-Zionist student protests, and the beating and arrest of professors and students in Western universities, especially in the US, as “another scandal for self-proclaimed advocates of freedom of expression.”
“Today, thanks to the blessed blood of the oppressed martyrs of Gaza, the true nature of Western civilization has been revealed to the people of the world more than anytime before,” the Iranian president said.
Raeisi added, “It has become evident that those who claim to be advocating freedom of expression do not think about anything other than maintaining their own domination.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Iran's president said the current uprising of Western students, professors and elites in support of the oppressed people of Gaza is a major development with vast ramifications.
“Undoubtedly, this uprising and awakening against [West’s] oppression and crime and domination will not be extinguished through violent practices, [as well as] beating and arresting professors and students who support the oppressed people of Gaza,” Raeisi said.
Raeisi’s remarks came as more than 20 universities in the US and several others in Europe have been the scene of mass protests against the Washington-backed Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 34,450 people since early last October, and left over 77,500 others injured.
The students are calling for universities to distance themselves from companies that are supporting the occupying regime’s war on the besieged Palestinian territory.
According to American media reports, hundreds of students have been arrested and face expulsion in universities across the United States as they continue demonstrations to demand an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
They added that US police were out in full force on college campuses, some using chemical irritants and Tasers to disperse the students condemning Israeli atrocities in Gaza over the past seven months.
On Sunday, Iran’s top human rights official condemned the United States’ violent treatment of professors and students, saying the suppression emboldens the occupying regime to continue its atrocities.
“Undoubtedly, the violent crackdown on student movements by the United States and other Western governments is in line with their policy of openly supporting the Zionist regime’s killings and war crimes,” Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, said in a letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
He warned that such an approach will encourage Israel to “continue warmongering, genocide and crimes against humanity in the occupied territories.”
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