In this photograph taken Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, protesters hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises at a demonstration in front of Amir Kabir University in Tehran, Iran, to remember victims of a Ukrainian airplane shot down by an Iranian missile. (AP)
“The brutal treatment of innocent Iranians in recent days is unacceptable,” said the leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
A top U.S. Jewish group expressed solidarity on Tuesday with the anti-regime demonstrators who have taken to the streets of Iran since last weekend.
“We stand with the Iranian people as they engage in peaceful protest against the oppression of Iran’s extremist regime,” Arthur Stark, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said in a statement. “The brutal treatment of innocent Iranians in recent days is unacceptable and must be forcefully condemned by the international community and all who value human and civil rights.”
They added, “The violent crackdown aimed at silencing the legitimate grievances of a proud people, demonstrates the regime’s ruthless disregard for the well-being of its citizens. This follows a similar brutal response to protests that took such a heavy toll in human life several weeks ago.”
“Iran must be held accountable for its outrageous conduct at home and abroad.” Stark and Hoenlein declared. “The U.N. Security Council must take immediate action to deter further atrocities at the hands of the Iranian government and its proxies.”
The latest unrest in Tehran and other Iranian cities appears to be fueled by outrage over the downing of a Ukrainian commercial airliner last week just after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport near Tehran.
The Kiev-bound plane — carrying 176 people, all of whom died — was hit by surface-to-air missiles fired by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-operated Tor battery.
The incident occurred just a few hours after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at two bases hosting U.S. military forces in Iraq — retaliation for an American drone strike in Baghdad the previous week, in which a prominent Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, was killed.
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