Donald Trump\u2019s inflammatory words about US military intervention in Iran will bring only further pain and strife if acted on, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s now estimated by fact checkers with Iran International that over 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the last week at the explicit request of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a gross violation of international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of the killing took place during an internet blackout enforced by Iran\u2019s government on January 8th and 9th, a tactic deployed to hide its murderous actions from the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as internet outages, communications channels with the outside world have been severed, media outlets have been shut down and journalists have faced intimidation and danger – Iran\u2019s government intends to hide the largest killing in the country\u2019s contemporary history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Islamic Republic regime in Iran has shown itself as a despotic force which is willing to muder its own citizens to establish control – it must face the full force of international law for its crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIranian protestors have my full support, and I urge the Irish government to take the same stance – human rights must be protected at all costs, no matter where in the world they are under threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the last thing the world needs is US military action in Iran, which President Trump has been hinting at for the past few days – this escalation of conflict would inevitably cause further loss of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a time for western warmongering or American imperialism – the international community must come together in staunch recognition of the struggle of persecuted Iranians and their right to peaceful protest.\u201d<\/p>\n
January 14th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Trump\u2019s inflammatory words about US military intervention in Iran will bring only further pain and strife if acted on, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cIt\u2019s now estimated by fact checkers with Iran International that over 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the last week at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,797,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-iran","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n