Iran Slams Crackdown on US Student Protesters

AFP/APP

Tehran: Iran on Monday criticized a police crackdown in the United States against university students protesting against the rising death toll from the war in the Gaza Strip.

“The American government has practically ignored its human rights obligations and respect for the principles of democracy that they profess,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said. 

Tehran “does not at all accept the violent police and military behavior aimed at the academic atmosphere and student demands”, he said.

American universities have been rocked by pro-Palestinian demonstrations, triggering campus clashes with police and the arrest of some 275 people over the weekend.

The demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York and have since spread across the country. 

In Iran, hundreds of people demonstrated in Tehran and other cities on Sunday in solidarity with the US demonstrations.

Some carried banners proclaiming “Death to Israel” and “Gazans are truly oppressed”, state media reported. 

The Gaza war broke out after the October 7 attack by Palestinian group on Israel which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.