TEHRAN — Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged the entire world to wage a war against racism, making a reference to the recent killing of a black American by the U.S. police.

“Some don’t think #BlackLivesMatter,” Zarif tweeted on Saturday.

“To those of us who do: it is long overdue for the entire world to wage war against racism,” he wrote. “Time for a #WorldAgainstRacism.”

Zarif also attached an image of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s press statement on “recent protests in Iran”. However, the foreign minister photoshopped some parts to make the statement look like it was written about the recent U.S. protests in order to draw attention to the international community’s double standards.

Some don't think #BlackLivesMatter.

To those of us who do: it is long overdue for the entire world to wage war against racism.

Time for a #WorldAgainstRacism. pic.twitter.com/06p1LmmwgF

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 30, 2020

It came as protests erupted in cities across the United States over the deadly arrest of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who was pinned to the ground by the knee of a white officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The fired officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for several minutes, as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe”, has been charged with murder and manslaughter.

On Friday, in the midst of the protests, U.S. President Donald Trump described the protesters as “thugs”. 

In a tweet, he also said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Trump’s tweet was widely interpreted as threatening those protesting Floyd’s death and prompted further outrage.

Twitter decided to hide the tweet, saying it violates rules about glorifying violence.

Iran has condemned the murder of black Americans, blaming the U.S. regime for its deadly racial profiling against African-Americans.

“Iran regrets the tragic murder of black Americans, denounces deadly racial profiling in the United States & urges authorities to do justice for every case,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a tweet on Friday night.

“The protestors’ voice must be heard,” the ministry stated. “In doing so, suppressing the suffering Americans & #PressFreedom must URGENTLY be stopped.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Thursday that the brutal killing was a harrowing demonstration of “systematic racism” exercised by the current rulers of the White House.

“Brutal killing of #GeorgeFloyd by Minneapolis’ white man in uniform in cold blood is a harrowing demonstration of systematic racism and white supremacism glorified by the current administration,” Mousavi tweeted.

MH/