Iran Press/ America: In an interview with NPR, Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep in New York City, Hossein Amirabdollahian talked about the tragedy of Amini's death but said such incidents happen around the world and downplayed the significance of the nationwide protests.
"I'm assuring them that there is not a big deal going on in Iran," he said of his message to his Western counterparts. "There is not going to be regime change in Iran. Don't play to the emotions of the Iranian people."The foreign minister insisted that Amini's death is being "seriously investigated," and said that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi who is among the senior officials promising a full investigation had called Amini's family.
One sticking point appears to be Iran's desire for some assurance that any new arrangement would last beyond the Biden administration; President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement, and a future president might do the same. NPR asked him about that, too.
"The American side has taken some steps toward giving us guarantees," he said. "We just need these guarantees to become a little more complete."
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Iranian foreign minister also said: "Iranian people are emotional people, and they have pure sentiments, and in the early hours after the incident, they protested peacefully, and now everybody is waiting for the judicial system's inquiry to come to an end ... But in the meantime, there have been some outside elements like satellite channels, some websites that have been encouraging people inside Iran to pour into the streets and to turn violent and this is why the demonstrations turned violent and into riots."
As a past visitor to Iran, who's interviewed hundreds of people in Iran, I have trouble believing that this is entirely stirred up from the outside. I have heard many people express frustration about the government and about the rules of the government.
"There are protesters of course and they are expressing what they demand in a peaceful way. But now the most of these people in the streets are being led and guided by well organized channels," Amirabdollahian noted.
Iranian official emphasized on United Nations concern on the matter and said; "You know, if it is peaceful, they can do it freely. There is not going to be any force used. But if they're going to torch the ambulances or steal money from the banks, then the police have no choice but to react proportionately.
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Amirabdollahian moreover said: "If the United States really, really cares about the Iranian people it can pay attention to the fact that thousands of Iranian kids have died because of sanctions that it has imposed ... Instead of worrying about people's having access to free internet, worry about those people dying every day because of their sanctions."
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