Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)
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Iranian President Vows Vengeance Against 'Architects of Conspiracy'

Protests in Tehran (AP)
Protests in Tehran (AP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government would take revenge from "the architects of the conspiracy."

The official IRNA news agency quoted Raisi as saying in a telephone conversation with the family of a deceased Basij officer that the responsible authorities are keen to take revenge from those responsible for this crime.

For his part, the spokesman for National Security and Foreign Policy Parliamentary Commission, Abolfazl Amouei, said that a group of conservative MPs discussed security developments with officials from the Ministry of Intelligence.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Amouei indicated that recent developments have social foundations, but at the same time, the revolution's enemies seek to destabilize the country.

He added that the lawmakers demanded a strict confrontation with the counter-revolutionary groups.

Judiciary spokesman, Masoud Satayshi, said that former reformist MP Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, faces charges of propaganda against the regime, calling for gatherings, and disrupting public order.

He announced that Hashemi was "temporarily detained."

Hashemi was arrested on the 11th night of the protests, and hours after her arrest, Tasnim Agency quoted an informed source saying that one of the security services had arrested her for "inciting protestors to create chaos."

A member of the Expediency Discernment Council, Mohammad Sadr, warned that the authority "cannot rule by force," noting that the developments following Mahsa Amini's death resulted from accumulated resentment and repeated demands of people, especially the young and women.

Sadr, who ran several times for the Foreign Minister position, told the Jamaran website that "the security vision itself threatens security," calling for a change in the security position of the ruling institution.

Several newspapers criticized the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and its Secretary General Mohammad Salih Hashemi Gulbaigani after he incited state agencies to impose strict veil laws.

The conservative Farheekhtegan newspaper headlined: "The Hate Production Factory," warning that the Commission's head and officials exacerbated social rifts.

Late Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to protest the UK's imposition of sanctions on Iran's morality police over the death of Amini.

The Ministry told the British ambassador that the sanctions imposed by the UK "are distorted and have no value for the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The ambassador was also informed that Iran "reserves its right to take countermeasures," state media added.

This is the third time Iran has summoned the British ambassador since the outbreak of protests last month.

Britain announced sanctions against Iran's morality police in its entirety as well as its chief, Mohammed Gachi, and the head of its Tehran division, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei in response to the violent suppression of protests since the death of Amini in police custody.

Recently, Western countries, including the United States and Canada, imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, accusing them of "suppressing" the protests.

The European Union is also considering imposing "restrictive measures" on Tehran.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, "The world is watching what is happening in Iran."

"These protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights," Sullivan wrote on Twitter.

"We stand with them, and we will hold responsible those using violence in a vain effort to silence their voices."

Meanwhile, reformist Etemad newspaper quoted Iranian-US sociologist Asef Bayat saying people wish to take back the everyday life that has been taken away from them.

Bayat believes this movement seeks life, and the protesters feel that achieving basic demands is being violated by the ruling establishment, unaware of the people's hopes and suffering.

He indicated that former protests focused on economic and living issues. However, the current movement is "comprehensive and unified," able to bring together different classes and nationalities from all over the country.

The Emtedad website quoted Bayat as saying that "women have taken the lead in Iran in the struggle against the authoritarian regime."

He described the uprising in Iran as an all-encompassing movement that has gathered together all Iranians regardless of their social class and ethnicity.



Biden Campaigns through Pennsylvania as His Team Quietly Braces for More Democratic Defections

US President Joe Biden gives members of his staff a thumbs up as he embarks Air Force One as he prepares to depart Harrisburg International Airport on July 07, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images/AFP)
US President Joe Biden gives members of his staff a thumbs up as he embarks Air Force One as he prepares to depart Harrisburg International Airport on July 07, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Biden Campaigns through Pennsylvania as His Team Quietly Braces for More Democratic Defections

US President Joe Biden gives members of his staff a thumbs up as he embarks Air Force One as he prepares to depart Harrisburg International Airport on July 07, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images/AFP)
US President Joe Biden gives members of his staff a thumbs up as he embarks Air Force One as he prepares to depart Harrisburg International Airport on July 07, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images/AFP)

President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified at a rousing Black church service in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as his campaign team quietly braced for growing pressure on him to abandon his reelection bid amid intensifying questions about whether he's fit for another term.

Speaking from a stage flanked by sunshine from stained-glass windows at northwest Philadelphia's Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden laughed off concerns about his age, joking "I know I look 40" but "I’ve been doing this a long time."

"I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together," Biden said, speaking from a prepared text but foregoing a teleprompter.

As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views.

More Democratic lawmakers are expected to voice their concerns that Biden step aside, but others are mounting efforts to stand by the president and return the focus on Trump and the danger they say he poses to the country and democracy.

Biden himself was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. On Saturday, he joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race, despite a political situation that is increasingly precarious.

Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Five Democratic lawmakers have already called on him to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. As Congress reconvenes, meeting in person means more chances to discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign — not to mention four more years in the White House — and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

Biden’s campaign team is calling and texting lawmakers to try and head off more potential defections. They are also asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out, in hopes of bringing those with lingering concerns back in line.

Calls to bow out popped up from different directions.

Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, said on Sunday, "I believe it is in the best interest of our country and the world that President Joe Biden step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee."

And director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, "It’s time for Joe Biden to step down."

With the Democratic convention fast approaching, the short term is especially critical. Those who feel Biden is no longer up to the task are imploring Democrats to replace him at the top of the ticket before, they argue, it’s too late.

Biden’s Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. That's despite a weekend boost coming from other key Democrats who had raised previous questions but now have moved to support Biden, led by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said Sunday that he still backs Biden but, should he step aside, he'd back Harris. That’s notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative.

"We don’t have much time," Goodman said. "I don’t think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala."

After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement of the president.

"There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump," Fetterman said. "And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good."

Biden also has a scheduled rally later with union members in Harrisburg. Stepping off Air Force One there, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and emphatically responded, "Yes." He returns to Washington, where leaders from NATO countries will gather for a three-day summit beginning Tuesday.

Despite the sentiments of the likes of Fetterman, though, others aren't fully convinced.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden "needs to answer those questions that voters have" while adding, "If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position and we can get back to what this campaign needs to be."

Biden has rejected undergoing independent cognitive testing, arguing that the everyday rigors of the presidency were proof enough of his mental acuity. Still, California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he'd be "happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test."

As some Democrats have done, Schiff also seized on Biden suggesting during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable "as long as I give it my all."

"This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try," Schiff said "but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch."