This past Sunday, Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, chose to dodge one question posed to him about the topic of the effects of the recent protests in Iran possibly hurting the nuclear talks.
While making an appearance on the ABC show “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” the titular show host asked the advisor if these Iranian demonstrations that kicked off in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini would end up damaging the currently ongoing negotiations concerning the restoration of the previous Iran nuclear deal. Authorities state that Amini perished due to a heart attack while being held in police custody, but her family has gone public by claiming that the police are lying. Sullivan managed to dance around the question, stating that it is quite important to speak out again violations in human rights while still discussing topics that will ensure national security.
“Well, first, George, let me just say that the fact that we are in nuclear talks is in no way slowing us down from speaking out and acting on behalf of the people of Iran,” explained Sullivan. “We’re not going to slow down one inch in our defense and advocacy for the rights of the women and citizens of Iran. But at the same time, at the height of the Cold War, at the very moment that Ronald Reagan was calling the Soviet Union an evil empire, he was also engaged in arms control talks, because he knew that, on the one hand, we had to push back vigorously against the repression and violations of human rights of the Soviet Union, and at the same time, we had to protect and defend the security of ourselves, our allies and our partners.”
“The same thing is true with respect to making sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon that they can threaten the world with,” he went on. “And to do that, we believe diplomacy is the best option.”
A series of enormous protests sparked throughout Iran this past week due to the death of Amini while being held in the custody of the Iranian Gasht e Ershad, more commonly known as the so-called “morality police.” While paying a visit to the capital city of Tehran near the start of the month, Amini was arrested by the Gasht e Ershad, which is tasked with the enforcement of the Iranian regime’s odd dress code. she was transported to an area detention center, and later died under severely mysterious circumstances, pushing some to state that the regime had outright murdered her. A video was captured of the incident on the streets of Tehran which highlighted people burning hijab in the streets while carrying out protests over the alleged murder of Amini.
The U.S. issued a response to the situation by slamming sanctions onto the “morality police” and onto quite a few high-ranking officials throughout the Iranian government.
“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Morality Police for abuse and violence against Iranian women and the violation of the rights of peaceful Iranian protestors,” expressed the Treasury Department in a release. “The Morality Police are responsible for the recent death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and detained for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly.”
“OFAC is also targeting seven senior leaders of Iran’s security organizations: the Morality Police, Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the Army’s Ground Forces, Basij Resistance Forces, and Law Enforcement Forces. These officials oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women’s rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha’i community.”