Abram Paley, the US State Department’s deputy special envoy for Iran, has called on Tehran to “do the right thing” and release detained human rights activist, Nasrin Sotoudeh.

In his statement on X, Paley also urged the Iranian government to “cease its violence against the women and girls of Iran.”

On October 29, Iran’s security forces arrested Sotoudeh and several other activists who had attended the funeral of Armita Geravand, the latest victim of Iran’s hijab enforcement.

Armita, a sixteen-year-old girl, died on October 28 after about a month in coma for brain damage she suffered during a violent encounter with hijab enforcers deployed at Tehran’s subway stations. Her body was laid to rest at Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery amid a heavy security presence.

Referring to the incident, Paley wrote: “Armita Geravand should be alive today.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Miller, the US State Department’s spokesperson, condemned “the Iranian authorities’ violent assault and unjust detention of several human rights defenders” during Armita’s Geravand’s funeral.

Abolfazl Qadiani (Ghadiani), an outspoken opponent of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, also stated that the murder of the teenage girl adds another dark chapter to the already troubling record of the regime’s leader.

Qadiani asserted, "The murder was committed by the hijab enforcers of Khamenei, the power-hungry ruler of Iran.”