CIA Expresses US Commitment To Back Free Flow Of Information In Iran
CIA Director Bill Burns has reiterated US commitment to support the “free flow of information" in Iran following the shutdown of internet access amid the ongoing uprising.
CIA Director Bill Burns has reiterated US commitment to support the “free flow of information" in Iran following the shutdown of internet access amid the ongoing uprising.
Burns told CBS on Tuesday that the new wave of rallies in Iran are not isolated protests, tacitly agreeing with the interviewer that this can be a beginning of a revolution in the country.
“I don’t think they are isolated protests, and what is striking – at least to me and our analysts – is the sweep of those protests right now,” he said, adding that “these are incredibly brave people and many incredibly brave young women and they are fed up in a lot of ways.”
Burns said, “They are willing to take the risk of getting out and demonstrate because they are fed up with the economic decay, the corruption, with social restrictions especially that Iranian women face, and the political repression as well.”
He called the Iranian regime an “autocratic system,” noting that they are very good at repressing people and “they are quite ruthless now in putting down those kinds of protests as well.”
Others are helping Iranians get easier access to information since the authorities have increased their restrictions. The US Treasury Department has given the greenlight to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to activate satellite Internet service Starlink for Iranians and Google has just launched a VPN service for Iranians, but using such methods are not simple enough for ordinary people and still not many have managed to access the Internet via them.
