Over 115k People Sign Petition To Remove US Envoy For Iran

Iranian activist Masih Alinejad has launched a campaign to gather signatures from people who believe it is time to remove US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley. 

The online campaign, which has so far been signed by over 115,000 people on worldwide nonprofit petition website change.org since it was started on Monday, is organized as a protest to a tweet by the envoy on Sunday that said Iranian protesters want respect from the Islamic Republic. The campaign also aims to remove Malley’s deputy Jarrett Blanc.

The campaigners say while Iranians are seeking a regime change, Joe Biden’s representatives refuse to recognize their demands and their policies are fixated on a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

“Iranians of all ages and social groups are protesting to replace the Islamic Republic, a religious dictatorship, with a democratic and secular form of government. Yet, President Biden’s Iran Envoy, Robert Malley, is misrepresenting the nature of the protests, pushing for negotiations with the Islamic Republic,” the campaign stated. 

Malley minimized the Iran protest movement by portraying it as merely a quest by Iranians to have the government in Tehran “respect their human rights and dignity”, ignoring their call for change, Alinejad said. 

Redeeming his remarks, Malley told Iran International on Monday that that his Sunday tweet on Iran protests, which led to negative reactions, “was poorly worded.”

“It is not up to me; it is not up to the US government what the brave women and men who have been demonstrating in Iran want. It is up to them,” Malley said.