The world has largely split along political-system lines in their responses to Iran's post-election protests, with democratic, Western countries largely condemning the government's response and non-democratic, non-Western countries largely remaining silent or congratulating President Mahmou Ahmehinejad on his reelection.
Following are countries' different reactions to the Iranian protests.
United Nations
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an "immediate end" to police violence on protestors on June 22. His spokesperson issued a statement saying he was "dismayed by the post-election violence, particularly the use of force against civilians,” adding that "he urges an immediate stop to the arrests, threats and use of force."
United States
"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching."
Obama issued a statement on June 16 saying "I stand strongly with the universal principle that people's voices should be heard and not suppressed."
He took a stronger stance on June 20 saying "We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost."
"The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States," Obama said in an interview realeased June 21, "We shouldn't be playing into that."
On June 23, Obama condemned the violence of police forces on protestors for the first time saying "The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days."
In regards to Iran's accusation of foreign meddling, he said it was "an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran's borders," adding "This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won't work any more in Iran."
European Union
"[We] urge the Iranian authorities to ensure that all Iranians are granted the right to assemble and to express themselves peacefully."
The E.U. held a two day summit in Brussels at which it called on Iranian authorities to respect the right of the protestors to demonstrate peacefully in a statement which read "The authorities should refrain from the use of force against peaceful demonstrations. [We] urge the Iranian authorities to ensure that all Iranians are granted the right to assemble and to express themselves peacefully."
On June 22, The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the E.U., rejected claims of interference and told the Iranian ambassador in Prague that the E.U. had the right to express its concern as to "whether the objective criteria of a transparent and democratic electoral process have been upheld in any country."
It also expressed “deep revulsion at the documented police violence against peaceful protesters in Iran after the elections.”
On June 24, five countries of the E.U. -- France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland -- summoned Iranian envoys in regards to the police violence and rejected claims of interference.
United Kingdom
"It is for Iran now to show the world that the elections have been fair."
After that same summit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "We are with others, including the whole of the European Union unanimously today, in condemning the use of violence, in condemning media suppression."
"It is for Iran now to show the world that the elections have been fair … that the repression and the brutality that we have seen in these last few days is not something that is going to be repeated."
France
France demands an answer in regards to the doubts about the authenticity of the election.
President Nicolas Sarkozy: "The extent of the fraud is proportional to the violent reaction. It is a tragedy, but it is not negative to have a real-opinion movement that tries to break its chains."
Germany
"Germany is on the side of the Iranian people, who want to exercise their rights of freedom of expression and free assembly."
The German government asked Tehran to justify the claims of irregularities in the voting.
"The violent actions security forces are taking against demonstrators must be brought to an end," Deputy Foreign Minister Reinhard Silberberg said. He also asked for international media's freedom to report with the security of reporters guaranteed.
On June 21, after a crackdown on protestors, Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement saying "Germany is on the side of the Iranian people, who want to exercise their rights of freedom of expression and free assembly."
Israel
Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the protets will not change Tehran's anti-Israel status telling army radio: "There are two points of consensus among the Iranian political elite - the hatred of Israel and the will to pursue the nuclear programme. That’s why we are not placing any hope in what’s happening there.”
Canada
"The Iranian people deserve to have their voices heard.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon issued a statement saying Canada "will continue to call for a fully transparent investigation into electoral discrepancies."
"The Iranian people deserve to have their voices heard. The violent crackdowns by Iranian security forces, including the use of lethal force, is wholly unacceptable."
Venezuela
"We demand the immediate end to maneuvers to intimidate and destabilize the Islamic Revolution."
President Louis Chaves stands by Ahmadinejad. A foreign ministry statement quotes him saying the country "expresses its firm rejection of the ferocious and unfounded campaign to discredit, from abroad, that has been unleashed against Iran, with the objective of muddying the political climate of this brother country. We demand the immediate end to maneuvers to intimidate and destabilize the Islamic Revolution."
Shanghai Cooperation Orgnaization
"The head Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election," Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said at a conference Ahmadinejad attended a day late because of the protests. The cooperation groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Russia
" We believe that the disagreements arising after the elections should be settled in strict compliance with Iran's Constitution and law," a statement issued on June 22 by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs read, adding that the election is "exclusively an internal matter."
On June 24, Pro-Kremlin television network Russia Today interviewed Paul Craig Roberts, a 9/11 US-conspiracy theorist, claiming the protests were planned by the West.
"The CIA has been conducting a destabilization plan within Iran for the last two years; it is well known and has been widely reported in American and British press," he told the Russian station, adding "We are seeing the fruits of an orchestrated protest that takes advantage of the youth in Tehran."
North Korea
North Korea's President Kim Yong-Il congratulated Ahmadinejad in a message saying he "sincerely wished him success in his responsible work to frustrate pressure and interference of outsiders,” the Korean Central News Agency reported. He also said the poll reflected the trust and support of Ahmadinejad's people.
Lebanon
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement also congratulated Ahmadinejad's on his re-election.
Qatar, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria
In separate messages, Qatar's Emir, Pakistan and Iraq's Presidents congratulated Ahmadinejad.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad also congratulated Ahmadinejad.
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