ACTIVISTS called out the hijacking of the 1979 Iranian revolution today as Iran marked the 47th anniversary of the Islamic clergy coming to\u00a0power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes as the country\u2019s theocracy remains under pressure both domestically and externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
United States President Donald Trump has suggested he may send another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump made the suggestion in an interview published on Tuesday night as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington DC to push the US toward stronger terms in any agreement reached with Tehran in the fledgling talks with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognising the pressure, Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian made an unprecedented apology today to \u201call those affected\u201d by the nationwide protest and bloody crackdown that followed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Pezeshkian also denounced unspecified \u201cWestern propaganda\u201d surrounding the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he knew the \u201cgreat sorrow\u201d felt by people in the protests and crackdown, without directly acknowledging the hand Iranian security forces had in the bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,\u201d President Pezeshkian said. \u201cWe are not seeking confrontation with the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Iranian state television, authorities broadcast images of tens of thousands of people taking to the streets across the country today to support the theocracy and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Committee for the Defence of Iranian People\u2019s Rights (Codir) general secretary Gawain Little said: \u201cThe revolution in Iran in 1979 was a progressive, national democratic revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSadly, the hijacking of the revolution by the Islamic clergy, resulting in the arrest and torture of thousands of the political opposition, has turned Iran into the theocratic dictatorship we see today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow the US is threatening imperialist intervention against Iran, promoting reactionary figures from Iran\u2019s past who have no popular support in Iran itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Little added: \u201cCodir will continue to be a voice for those opposed to imperialist intervention and seeking peace, social justice and democracy in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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