News - West has no right to shed crocodile tears for Iranian people

Iran strongly condemned the United States and its allies for imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic as the country defends its security and nation in the face of Western-backed unrest that spread last year, Mehr reports. On Friday, the United States, the UK, and the European Union sanctioned dozens of Iranian individuals and entities, which they accused of either suppression or misrepresentation of last year's unrest. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani later denounced the sanctions as "unconstructive behavior," which was not in line with the Western countries' own interests. He said the West must adopt "a new policy [that was] based on respect for the great and civilized Iranian nation, the Islamic Republic's sovereignty, and the two sides' common security and interests." Unrest in the country began in September last year after the tragic death of a girl, Mahsa Amini, earlier that month. Amini collapsed at the police station and was pronounced dead a few days later in a Tehran hospital. The investigation attributed her death to a medical condition, rejecting claims that she was beaten by police. Iran claims the 2022 unrest was the result of foreign-backed elements exploiting the incident. Referring to the Western sanctions and accusations faulting Iran's riot response, Kanaani asserted that, when it comes to the provision of public security for the country, the Iranian people and authorities "would not be influenced by the Western parties' malicious propaganda and measures." Regarding Western sanctions and criticisms of Iran's handling of riots, Kanaani stated that the Iranian people and authorities would not be influenced by the Western parties' malicious propaganda and measures” when it comes to ensuring public security in the country. At the same time, he reminded Western states of their poor human rights record, calling them "countries, which continually perpetrate the most severe instances of violence against their own citizens, especially women, and also minorities, people of color, aboriginals, and migrants."