Advertisement
Tech

Even Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei is angry about Ferguson

Sometimes even people who live in glass palaces can throw tweets.

Photo of Aaron Sankin

Aaron Sankin

Article Lead Image

On Monday, Iran’s supreme leader sent out a series of tweets slamming the United States for the treatment of African-Americans on his English-language Twitter account.

Featured Video

Yes, even the Grand Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei is mad about Ferguson.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

One of Khameni’s tweets included a link to the following video, uploaded to his YouTube account, showing footage of the Ferguson riots with voiceover narration charing the U.S. of violating the human rights of African-American citizens.

(Sorry, this embed was not found.)

That propaganda video is the second in a series of clips posted by Khamenei entitled “395 Years a Slave.” The first video, which was posted in September, blasts the unequal treatment of blacks prior to and during the Civil Rights movement.

Advertisement
(Sorry, this embed was not found.)

Similarly, this series of tweets wasn’t the first time Iran’s de facto leader has referenced the shooting of African-American teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson, as well as the destructive protests and severe police reaction that followed. He has taken to social media to blast the U.S. about the ongoing events with some regularity in recent weeks:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Khameni has attempted to tie the events in Ferguson with one of Iran’s most long-standing criticisms of the United States: America’s deep support for Israel.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Khameni has even taken to utilizing the imagery and language of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the hacktavist collective Anonymous, which has been deeply involved in protesting American law enforcement in Ferguson since the hours after Brown’s death.

Advertisement

Under Khamenei, Iran’s record on human rights isn’t exactly stellar.

A report by the international nonprofit Human Rights Watch, charged that the Iranian government systematically engaged in a torture campaign to suppress political dissenters. When widespread protests arose in the wake of the 2009 elections, which many in the country believed were marred by fraud, the government cracked down by killing dozens of people and arresting thousands more.

The hypocrisy of the Ayatollah’s Ferguson campaign was one many on Twitter were more than happy to point out.

Advertisement

https://twitter.com/Himalaya888/status/539361668846075904

Advertisement

(Sorry, this embed was not found.)

Photo by Sajed.ir of “The Foundation of Holy Defence Values, Archives and Publications”/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Advertisement
 
The Daily Dot