Iran has condemned a controversial ruling by a court in the United States that has banned pro-Palestine demonstrations and strikes, saying it flagrantly violates the right of freedom of speech.  

In a post on X on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani slammed a ruling by an Orange County Superior Court judge late on Friday that forced thousands of academic workers of the University of California to end their strike and return to their jobs on Monday.

They were striking and demonstrating at six campuses against administrators’ response to pro-Palestinian protests. 

The difference between slogans and actions; Violation of the “right of freedom of speech and opinion” in the United States by issuing an American court order to stop the anti-Israel protests (strikes) of University of California students,” the Iranian official said.

Kan’ani said “officials of the University of California Student Union believe that the court’s order to forcefully stop the strike by university students and employees in support of Palestine is invalid.”

In recent weeks, unionized academic researchers, graduate teaching assistants and post-doctoral scholars went on a strike over unfair labor practices in the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protest rallies.

United Auto Workers Local 4811, however, said it is planning protests on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Protests were held recently on many campuses in the US, demanding an end to the Washington-backed Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 37,100 Palestinians.

The ant-Israel demonstrators in the US were met with brutal police violence.

Israel’s war in Gaza, which began in early October, has driven virtually 80 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction in several towns and cities.

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