Iran distorts reality by branding peaceful protests as terror acts, US says

The United States rejected Iran’s description of peaceful protests as “terrorist operations,” saying Tehran is distorting reality to justify its crackdown on dissent.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the US State Department’s Persian-language account said it takes great audacity for Iranian officials to accuse peaceful Iranians of terrorism while the Islamic Republic uses violence and intimidation to suppress protesters and supports real terrorists abroad.

The statement said portraying protesters as terrorists and blaming them for destruction was an attempt to shift responsibility and present the ruling system as a victim.

“The reality is clear,” the post said, adding that ordinary Iranians were demanding their rights and the authorities responded with repression, as they have for decades.

The United States said the world would not be deceived by what it called overt propaganda, stressing that Washington stands firmly with the people of Iran and that “the Iranian people deserve better.”