Biden: Iran protests ‘awakened something that won’t be quieted for a long time’

US President Joe Biden said Friday he was “stunned” by the mass protests in Iran, which has seen its biggest wave of demonstrations in years after the death of a young woman arrested by morality police.

“I want you to know that we stand with the citizens, the brave women of Iran,” he said at a college in Irvine, California, addressing a group of protesters who had gathered holding “Free Iran” signs.

“It stunned me what it awakened in Iran. It awakened something that I don’t think will be quieted for a long, long time,” said Biden.

The protests were sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

More than 100 people have been killed since, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.