Al-Arabia – A White House official played down the potential for regime change in Iran on Friday, saying that US President Joe Biden was expressing solidarity with Iranian protesters after he said “we’re going to free Iran.”
“The President was expressing our solidarity with the protesters as he’s been doing, quite frankly, from the very outset,” National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
During a campaign rally in California on Thursday, Biden also said the Iranian people would free themselves “pretty soon.”
Kirby said it was up to the people of Iran to determine their future.
He was pressed further on whether the Biden administration assessed that the Iranian regime would soon collapse. “I don’t believe we have indications of that kind,” he said.
The White House official did, however, point to the problems the Iranian regime faces due to “their own making.” And Washington will continue to work to hold the regime accountable for the way it is treating its own people, Kirby said.
Protesters across Iran have demonstrated for more than six weeks following the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police for a breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.
Dozens have been killed, mainly protesters but also members of the security forces, according to the authorities, while hundreds of others – including women – have been arrested.