Iran’s president apologizes over crackdown as nation marks 1979 Islamic Revolution anniversary

DUBAI: Iran’s president apologized on Wednesday to “all those affected” by the nationwide protest and bloody crackdown that followed it. President Masoud Pezeshkian also denounced unspecified “Western propaganda” surrounding the protests. Pezeshkian said he knew the “great sorrow” felt by people in the protests and crackdown, without directly acknowledging the hand Iranian security forces had in the bloodshed. “We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” Pezeshkian said.