TEHRAN - The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said that the self-immolation of an American airman, Aaron Bushnell, is the loud voice of awakened conscience in the U.S. against the support of their government for the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Nasser Kanaani said the move showed Americans are “ashamed” of the U.S. support for the Israeli genocidal war in the tiny coastal strip. 

On Sunday, Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. to vent his anger at his country’s support for Israel's brutal war on Gaza.

A video posted on social media shows him walking up to the driveway of the Israeli embassy, setting his phone down on the ground, and pouring an unknown liquid from a bottle over himself. He then ignited it while yelling "Free Palestine" repeatedly.

The flames consumed Aaron’s body and he finally fell to the ground. While Aaron was engulfed in flames, some police officers who were standing nearby with guns drawn, called on him to get on the ground.

"My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide…I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal."

Before his death he posted online: “Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide? The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now."

Aaron’s move comes as the administration of President Joe Biden faces growing pressure over Washington’s political and military support for the Israeli war on Gaza. 

At least 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged territory since Israel launched its war on October 7. Many of the victims are women and children. 

Over the past months, pro-Palestinians have held rallies across the U.S. They have called for a ceasefire and accused Biden of complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza. 

Biden’s unconditional support for Israel’s war on Gaza has also alienated many voters, in particular young voters and the Arab-American and Muslim American communities who played an important role in electing him in 2020.  

In November, some of these one-time supporters began to organize in key swing states to oppose what they described as “Genocide Joe’s” re-election under the slogan “Abandon Biden”.

Over the past months, pro-Palestinians have held rallies across the U.S. They have called for a ceasefire and accused Biden of complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza.