*Administration of Barack H. Obama, 2009 *

**Statement on the Situation in Iran **

*June 20, 2009 *

The Iranian Government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian Government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own Government. If the Iranian Government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that; the international community believes that. And right now we are bearing witness to the Iranian people's belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

*Categories:* Statements by the President : Iran, situation in.

*Subjects:* Civil rights : Freedom of speech; Iran : Democracy and human right issues.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD200900490.