Obama urges support for Iranian people's quest for 'freedom, justice'

AFP - US President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the world to support the Iranian people in their fight for "freedom," one year after disputed elections triggered major demonstrations.
   

A look back at the post-election protests of 2009

Samantha Power, an adviser to Obama who focuses on human rights, read a statement in Obama's name at a reception by the National Endowment for Democracy honoring last year's protesters in Iran.
   
"It is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make it clear that we are on the side of those who seek freedom, justice and dignity, as surely as hope and history are," Obama said in the statement.
   

Timeline of the post-election crackdown

"The courage of the Iranian people stands as an example to us and it challenges us to continue our efforts to bend the arch of history in the direction of justice," he said.
   
Power said the White House would later release the statement publicly.