US To Support Iranian People's Ability To Express Their Fundamental Freedoms In Upcoming Presidential Elections - State Department
Date
5/20/2024 3:13:52 PM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20. The US will besupporting the Iranian people's ability to express theirfundamental freedoms in the upcoming presidential elections, the USState Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing,Trend reports.
"One of the points we made in the statement that we've got, theshort two-sentence statement, was Iran will be selecting a newpresident right now, and as they go through that process, we willbe supporting the Iranian people's ability to express theirfundamental freedoms. Now, we've seen those freedoms crack down onagain and again, and it's not just the freedom to exercise theirvote, it's their freedom of speech, it's other fundamentalfreedoms. We will look at this the same way we have looked at pastinstances of crackdowns by the regime or by allies of the regime tothe Iranian people exercising their fundamental rights, and ifthere are steps that are appropriate for us to take to hold peopleaccountable for those actions, we will not hesitate to do so," hesaid.
On May 19, a helicopter carrying Iranian President EbrahimRaisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tabriz ProvinceImam Ayatollah Ali Hashim, and East Azerbaijan ProvinceGovernor-General Malek Rahmati crashed while flying from Khudafarinto Tabriz.
Following the crash, communication with the helicopter crew wasestablished twice, but it was subsequently lost. The IranianPresident and the entire accompanying delegation were confirmeddead.
Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei said that the new Iranianpresident should be elected within the next 50 days.
According to him, following Article 131 of Iran's Constitution,Iran's First Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber, will serve as theacting president.
The Iranian Supreme Leader emphasized that the first vicepresident, the chairman of the judiciary, and the chairman of theparliament should take steps to hold a presidential election.
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