US Expresses Concern Over Attacks by Iranian Government Supporters on Opposition Gatherings Abroad

The United States expressed concern over reports of violent confrontations between supporters of the Islamic Republic and opposition members holding protests abroad. A group of Islamic Republic supporters attacked opponents in London last Friday during a memorial ceremony for Ebrahim Raisi, the recently deceased president of Iran, injuring four people. Reports indicate that the following day, at a similar event in Washington, supporters of the Islamic Republic threatened the opponents with 'death.' Images from the event shared on social media show a man next to a police officer gesturing towards specific individuals in the opposition crowd by drawing his hand across his neck, an act interpreted as a threat of beheading. Ibraham Peely, the Deputy Special Representative of the United States for Iran, noted these events on the social media platform X, stating: 'I am concerned about reports of attacks by supporters of the Iranian regime on peaceful protesters around the world and their threats.' He added: 'The freedom to hold peaceful gatherings and freedom of expression are essential human rights, and efforts to silence dissenting voices are unacceptable.' Ebrahim Raisi, the eighth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, died in a plane crash on Sunday, May 30, while returning from the inauguration of the Qiz Qaleh dam in the Varzaghan region of East Azerbaijan province, along with seven others. He had been active in the judiciary during the 1980s and was one of the four members of the death committee during the summer of 1988. According to Amnesty International, thousands of political prisoners serving their sentences were executed during the summer of 1988.