“Let me, clearly and directly, support the aspirations of the people who are in the streets in Iran today,” Clinton told reporters after meeting with the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, on Monday.
The chief US diplomat added, “What we see happening in Iran today is a testament to the courage of the Iranian people and indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime, a regime which over the last three weeks has constantly hailed what went on in Egypt.”
“And now, when given the opportunity to afford their people the same rights as they called for on behalf of the Egyptian people, once again illustrate their true nature,” she said.
“We wish the opposition and the brave people in the streets across cities in Iran the same opportunities that they saw their Egyptian counterparts seize.”
“We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people,” said Clinton.
Clinton’s spokesman Philip Crowley said Washington is “deeply concerned” about reports that one person has been killed and others wounded in the clashes with security forces.
“We condemn in the strongest terms any use of violence against people peacefully assembling and expressing their desire for freedom and reform, and we call on Iran to refrain from violence,” he added.