Iranian top Sunni cleric condemns killing of protesters

News Nation White House correspondent Kelli Meyer posted a photo showing President Trump being handed a document as he entered the Oval Office.

“You can see the president was handed something and began reading it as soon as he got back into the Oval Office,” Meyer wrote on X.

Iranian exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi in his latest video message on Tuesday called on Iranian protesters to continue their fight against the Islamic Republic despite the brutal crackdown, vowing that “help is on the way.”

“To the military: you are the national army of Iran, not the army of the Islamic Republic, and you must protect your fellow citizens and join the people," he added.

US Senator Bernie Sanders said on Tuesday Iran is facing widespread unrest as millions of people protest against the country’s government, urging US support for what he described as legitimate demands for freedom while warning against military intervention.

“Iran is in turmoil. Millions of people are rising up against the autocratic government. Not surprisingly, the regime is responding brutally by killing thousands of protestors, according to some estimates," Independent Senator of Maine posted on X.

"The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future and the United States should support their legitimate aspirations for freedom and democracy. But we must not do so at the barrel of a gun," he said.

He called on Trump administration to refrain from any military option and suggested other support in forms of helping civil society.

"The United States must support the Iranian people. We must join the Iranian people in demanding the immediate end of government violence against protestors, an immediate end to the media and internet blackout and censorship currently in place, and internationally supervised free elections so that the people of Iran can determine their own future," Sanders said.

US Representative Claudia Tenney posted an image on X on Tuesday showing a photo of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being burned to light a cigar, joining a form of protest imagery that has circulated online in connection with Iran.

“Smoke ’em if you got ’em,” the Republican House member from New York said.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday released a statement expressing support for the people of Iran and condemning what it described as violent repression of peaceful protesters.

“Congress and the American people stand with the resilient people of Iran in their aspiration for a free and prosperous future. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reported killing of thousands of peaceful protestors for exercising their right to free speech," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen said.

"We demand that the government of Iran immediately cease suppression of its people. The future of Iran should be decided by the Iranian people," the statement added.