On issues from climate change to healthcare, there are few things President Trump relishes more than doing the opposite of something his predecessor did. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley cited human rights considerations in backing the protest movement — even as critics quickly noted that the Trump administration has voiced little support for human rights elsewhere. “The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!” Trump tweeted Sunday. Haley, in a statement, said the Iranian government was being “tested by its own citizens.”“We pray that freedom and human rights will carry the day,” she said. Although there is no known U.S. involvement in the protests, Trump’s tweets allowed Iranian officials to argue that the political unrest was fomented by outside forces.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 01, 2018 00:58 UTC