US President Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to "free" Iran and said that demonstrators working against the country's government would soon succeed in freeing themselves.
"Don't worry, we're gonna free Iran. They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon," Biden said during a wide-ranging campaign speech in California, as dozens of demonstrators gathered outside holding banners supporting Iranian protesters.
Biden did not expand on his remarks or specify what additional actions he would take during the remarks at MiraCosta College near San Diego.
The White House's National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seven weeks of demonstrations in Iran were ignited by the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran's morality police.
The protests triggered by Amini's death on Sept. 16 have shown the defiance of many young Iranians in challenging the clerical leadership, overcoming fear that has stifled dissent in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Read full story
The United States on Wednesday said it will try to remove Iran from the 45-member UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) over the government's denial of women's rights and brutal crackdown on protests. Read full story
Iran is just starting a four-year term on the commission, which meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.
President Raisi, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian respond
Iran's hardline president on Friday said that Iran had been freed by the 1979 Islamic revolution, responding to a vow by US President Joe Biden to "free Iran."
"I am telling Biden that Iran was freed 43 years ago," President Ebrahim Raisi said in a live televised speech.
Responding to US President Joe Biden's vow to "free Iran," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday: "Mr. Biden, stop your hypocritical behavior."
"The White House has increasingly promoted violence and terror in the recent riots in Iran, while at the same time it is trying to reach a nuclear agreement," Amirabdollahian said in a tweet.