Obama 'Very Concerned' About Iran Leader's Threat to Crack Down on Protesters

Published December 24, 2015

President Obama is "very concerned" about the events unfolding in Iran, as the Islamic Republic's supreme leader warned Friday about a coming crackdown on peaceful protesters.

"I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor -- and tone of the statements that have been made -- that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching," the president told CBS News. "And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and -- and is not."

Earlier, the White House welcomed a non-binding resolution in Congress supporting street protests in Iran as top officials said the president will continue his low-key approach to the roiling internal debate over Iran's disputed presidential election.

"It's not about us, it's about them," a senior administration official. "They are the ones driving this."

Both houses of Congress have voted to condemn Iran's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

The resolution -- approved by the House and then the Senate -- condemns "the ongoing violence" by the government and the Iranian government's suppression of the Internet and cell phones. It also expressed support for Iranian citizens who embrace freedom.

The resolution was initiated by Republicans as a veiled criticism of Obama, who has been reluctant to speak too strongly about the disputed elections that left hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in charge of the Muslim nation.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the resolution is consistent with Obama's message condemning the violence in Iran. At the same time, he said the U.S. would not become a political football in a debate happening in Iran.

"This is a debate among Iranians about Iran," a senior official said.

Senior officials said they considered Friday's speech from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declaring the recent election valid and threatening reprisals against street demonstrators -- whom he compared to terrorists -- as a "significant statement." But they cautioned that much is unknown about how the government will respond and if the demonstrators will be intimidated.

"There's a flowering, there's an emergence of something," a senior official said, referring to the demonstrations. "Will it end, will it peter out? I would caution anyone against bold predictions."

Officials said the president is monitoring developments closely and the U.S. is trying to "position ourselves to anticipate what may happen and to shape events to the degree that we can." Officials would not speculate on how U.S. policy might change toward the regime if wide-spread repression, violence and bloodshed ensue in clashes between authorities and protestors.

"We're going to respond to facts as we see them," an official said. "We're going to go about this in a way that advances our interests."

When asked what Iranian were debating, officials said it began before the election as a movement simply to broaden dialogue on political issues. When the election results became a source of controversy, the desire to speak and challenge authority became more public and now there's a desire that "people want to know they are being heard and to know their voices are being heard."

Several officials said they thought "something big is going on."

Repeatedly, the officials said the president is trying to keep the U.S. out of the internal debate because of America's "special history in the Iranian narrative."

In the past, the officials said, the U.S. was used as a tool by the Iranians to undercut efforts at reform, "in the good old days we were the great push back. The president's words are an effective tool in denying those who want to fall back on the reflexive, anti-American argument."

The House resolution, which passed 405-1, offers general U.S. backing to "all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law."

It also underscores the "importance of democratic and fair elections," while condemning, as Obama has, "the ongoing violence" carried out by government forces and pro-government street militias.

Recognizing that some of the protests have been organized via social networking sites and Internet communication, the resolution criticizes Iranian "suppression of independent electronic communications through interference with the Internet and cell phones."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-very-concerned-about-iran-leaders-threat-to-crack-down-on-protesters