The Biden administration has launched high-level talks with representatives of US tech companies to discuss supporting the free flow of information to the Iranian people.
This came as State Department spokesman Ned Price declared that the administration is currently focusing on supporting the protesters and that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran "is not our focus right now" after efforts to restore it reached another impasse.
Regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Price said the Iranians have made it very clear that this is not an agreement they have been prepared to make, adding that "a deal certainly does not appear imminent. Iran's demands are unrealistic."
"Nothing we've heard in recent weeks suggests they have changed their position," noted the spokesman, adding that the administration's focus right now is the "remarkable bravery and courage that the Iranian people are exhibiting through their peaceful demonstrations, through their exercise of their universal right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression."
In September, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said about the nuclear talks that he does not see any "prospects in the very near term to bring this to a conclusion".
He accused Iran of adding extraneous issues to the negotiation that "we are simply not going to say yes. We will not accept a bad deal."
He added that the response they gave to the last proposals put forward by the European partners had been a very significant step backward.
Amid the stalemate, the Biden administration unveiled a series of measures to punish the Iranian regime for its suppression of the people.
-Sullivan denounces Raisi
For his part, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan asserted in a series of tweets that the US "stands with the Iranians."
"The world is watching what is happening in Iran," he said, referring to several protesters, including a young girl, who were shot dead. He condemned the statement of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, who compared protestors to "flies."
Sullivan indicated that these "protestors are Iranian citizens, led by women and girls, demanding dignity and basic rights." He vowed to support the protesters, adding that Washington would hold responsible those using violence in a vain effort to silence their voices.
- Internet access
Last month, the US issued a General License (GL) D-2 to increase support for internet freedom in Iran. The GLD-2 will expand the range of internet services available to Iranians and allow them to circumvent domestic internet controls.
During a roundtable discussion in Washington with global technology companies about increasing Iranians' access to communication tools, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated that Iranian authorities had blocked access to the Internet amid violent protests and repression of the Iranian people.
"A lot of American technology companies are already providing new services to Iranians under the new license," she added.
She thanked the companies for taking the initiative to supply the tools, saying it is an opportunity to help connect the Iranian people to the Internet.
"As more technology companies offer them software, services, and hardware, the Iranian people's ability to communicate with each other and their digital ties to the rest of the world will strengthen. And it will become more costly for their government to sever access in the future," she said.
Sherman asserted that as more Iranians gain access to the latest software and services that meet global standards for digital security and anti-surveillance technologies, they can better protect themselves from government repression.
