Amid nationwide anti-hijab protests in Iran, US president Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to "free" the country, and said that the demonstrators who were challenging the country's government would soon succeed in freeing themselves.
"Don't worry, we're gonna free Iran. They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon," Joe Biden said at a campaign rally without expanding on his remarks or specifying any additional actions against Iran.
Read more: Amid anti-hijab protests Iran may be planning attack, Saudi Arabia tells US
As Joe Biden made the comments, supporters in the crowd held up cellphones displaying the message “Free Iran.”
This comes after more than 2,000 academics from universities across the United States wrote to Joe Biden urging him to do more to support the anti-hijab protesters in Iran. They called for “urgent attention to a dire situation in Iranian universities,” and asked Joe Biden to take “further tangible actions", CNN reported.
Read more: Explained: Iran's morality police, hijab and violent protests over woman's death
{{/usCountry}}Read more: Explained: Iran's morality police, hijab and violent protests over woman's death
{{/usCountry}}Protests in Iran ignited following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's controversial morality police. The demonstrations that have continued for seven weeks were triggered on September 16 and have shown no signs of abating.
US announced sanctions last month against Iranian officials for the brutal treatment of demonstrators and has also recently hit Iran with sanctions for supplying drones and technical assistance to Russia amid Ukraine war.