The White House has made the following statement on the Iranian protests, which have now been under way for more than 12 hours:

“We strongly condemn the violent and unjust suppression of civilians in Iran seeking to exercise their universal rights,” White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.

“Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States,” Hammer said.

“Governing through fear and violence is never just, and as President (Barack) Obama said in Oslo — it is telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation,” Hammer said in a reference to Obama’s speech this month accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.