Iran slams US' response to George Floyd protests

Iran on Tuesday criticised the reactions of the US administration and police to the protests that had spurred after the death of African-American man George Floyd and "asked American leaders to stand trial before international courts".

"US leaders should stand trial before the international courts on a charge of deliberate homicide and racial discrimination," CNN quoted Iran's judiciary chief, Hojjatoleslam Raeesi, as saying.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted, "The 'knee-on-neck' technique is nothing new: Same cabal--who have admitted to habitually 'lie, cheat, steal' -- have been employing it on 80M Irans for 2 years (sic), calling it 'maximum pressure.'"

Meanwhile, 240 newly elected members of Iran's Parliament signed a statement saying, "The terrorist president of America threatening to kill the protestors indicates that the people of other countries are not the only victims of US state terrorism, but the American people are in fact the first victims of this state terrorism," IRNA reported.

They also said that the videos of Floyd's killing by US police gave voice to all the Americans, who could be heard as saying "We Can't Breathe".

At the end of the statement, they wrote that "Iran's parliament, in unison with freedom-seeking people around the globe, condemns the brutal killing of George Floyd as the latest symbol of racial terrorism by the US against the black and hoped that the popular movement against such crimes would yield fruits."

Last week, unrest erupted across the US after the death of Floyd in Minneapolis in police custody.

The 46-year-old's death has sparked outrage across the nation. Floyd was detained and subsequently died in police custody in Minneapolis last month.

A bystander video recording showed a policeman -- Derek Chauvin -- kneeling on Floyd's neck for at least eight minutes, while Floyd kept saying that he could not breathe. A total of four police officers involved in the arrest have been fired.

Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

( With inputs from ANI )