US 'cruelly persecuting' Iranians since 1953: Human rights lawyer

The former head of the High Commissioner for Human Rights office in New York (CHR) has censured US-Israeli-backed riots across Iran, saying the US has been "cruelly persecuting" the people of Iran since 1953.

“The US, covetous of Iranian oil and enraged by its refusal to bow to the regional hegemony of the racist Israeli regime, has been cruelly persecuting the Iranian people since at least 1953,” Craig Mokhiber wrote in a post on X on Sunday.  

In 1953, the US used a similar combination of riots and economic pressure to overthrow the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadiq and reinstalled the brutal monarchy of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

“When the Iranian people rose up to free themselves from the murderous US-backed regime in 1979, the US began a 46-year-long campaign of unlawful sanctions, CIA (and Mossad) interference and sabotage, and, at times, direct military aggression,” Mokhiber added.

Having sabotaged the Iranian economy and deployed “CIA and Mossad thugs” to derail recent legitimate protests, the US and its partner, the Israeli regime, are preparing to launch another illegal and unprovoked military assault on this resource-rich country, he noted.

“If they can achieve regime change to install a US-puppet regime, they will be thrilled. If not, they will be happy to kill enough of the people and destroy enough of the country to drive it into chaos and ensure that it is no longer a functional state,” he warned

After destroying the country through war, as they did in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, the US politicians will paint the people of Iran as “irrational savages” who “hate us for our freedom,” he stated.

At the end of his post, Mokhiber pleaded with the American people and the free nations of the world to stop the economic, military, and political rampage of the Israel-US axis against Iran and its people.

Some shopkeepers last week staged limited street protests in several Iranian cities over economic instability, but the demonstrations were steered toward violence after public statements by US and Israeli figures—amplified by Israeli-linked Persian-language outlets—encouraged vandalism and disorder.

Authorities have acknowledged the legitimacy of peaceful economic grievances and vowed to address them, while blaming foreign-backed elements for exploiting concerns over rising living costs and the depreciation of the national currency, which is directly linked to unilateral US sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and oil exports.

Protests turned into armed riots since Thursday night, inflicting damage to public and private property and claiming the lives of dozens of security forces and civilians across several Iranian cities.

Authorities say security and judicial agencies have dismantled several armed terror cells and detained foreign-linked operatives amid the violence.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir