U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Iran's government to "stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."
Mr. Obama made his comments in a statement Saturday, following reports
of violent clashes between Iranian authorities and demonstrators in
Tehran.
President Obama urged Iran to "govern through consent, not coercion."
He said the United States stands with all who seek to exercise the
universal rights to assembly and free speech.
Also Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York and Washington in support of Iran's opposition groups.
More than a thousand people marched in the streets of Hamburg, Germany.
Some of the demonstrators held green ribbons and photos of injured
protesters in Iran, while others carried Iranian flags and signs
reading, "Where is my vote?"
In France, thousands of people gathered north of Paris for a rally
organized by Iranian exiles with the National Council of Resistance of
Iran.
It is an umbrella group for the Iranian People's Mujahedeen
Organization, which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States
and was recently removed from that designation by the European Union.
Protest organizers called for Iran to embrace a secular democracy.