Iran slams crackdown on US student protesters

TEHRAN (AFP): Iran on Monday criticized a police crackdown in the United States against university students protesting against the rising death toll from the Israel-Hamas 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 militants on Israel which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Tehran backs Hamas, but has denied any direct involvement in the attack.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed at least 34,488 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

“What we have seen in American universities in recent days is an awakening of the world community and world public opinion toward the Palestinian issue,” Kanani said.

“It is not possible to silence the loud voices of protesters against this crime and genocide through police action and violent policies.”