He has also called for an end to the ongoing bloody clampdown on demonstrations in Iran’s western Kurdish regions. The protest movement marks one of the biggest challenges to the ruling clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought them to power. More than 440 people have been killed in the state crackdown on demonstrations, including dozens of children, according to one human rights group. Thousands of people have also been arrested. At least six people have so far been sentenced to death over the protests.
