US Officials Condemn Iran's Death Penalty Threats, Ignore Their Allies'
Newsweek's headline blares about Iran's Prosecutor General threatening protestors with death. Meanwhile, US officials, quick to decry such actions, routinely provide billions in aid to allies who employ similar, if not identical, tactics. Just last year, the Department of State's own human rights report detailed the extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and denial of fair trials within
countries receiving significant US military and financial support. (See: U.S. Department of State, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices ) One might wonder if the concern for due process and protestor safety diminishes when the death penalty is enforced by friendly regimes. It appears some nations' threats to human rights are simply more 'telegenic' than others, especially when they
provide a convenient distraction from inconvenient truths about our own foreign policy.