Obama Assails Iran for Violent Response to Protests By JEFF ZELENY and PETER BAKER
Published: June 23, 2009 WASHINGTON — President Obama harshly condemned the Iranian crackdown against demonstrations on Tuesday, declaring the rest of the world “appalled and outraged” and dismissing what he called “patently false and absurd” accusations that the United States instigated the protests.
In his sharpest and most expansive comments on the crisis in Tehran since the June 12 elections that the opposition called rigged, Mr. Obama deplored the violence that has killed some protesters, including a young woman whose death was captured on a video that has been played around the world.
“While this loss is raw and painful,” the president said, “we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.”
The president’s forceful comments, delivered during prepared remarks opening a midday news conference at the White House, came after 10 days of more restrained response by Mr. Obama, who expressed concern that a more prominent role would play into the Iranian government’s hands. Even as he employed tougher language on Tuesday, he emphasized repeatedly that the protests in Tehran have nothing to do with the United States and rejected Iranian allegations of American involvement.
“They are an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders,” he said. “This tired strategy of using tensions to scapegoat other countries won’t work anymore in Iran. This is not about the United States and the West. This is about the people of Iran, and the future that they, and only they, will choose.”
