US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US envoy to Iran Robert Malley on Saturday held meetings with civil society groups and human rights activists to discuss the ongoing situation in the Islamic Republic. “We continue to find ways to respond to the Iranian government’s state-sponsored violence against women and crackdown on its people,” Blinken said in a tweet. “Today, I met with civil society partners to discuss what more the US can do to support the people of Iran, particularly its brave women and girls,” he added. We continue to find ways to respond to the Iranian government’s state-sponsored violence against women and crackdown on its people. Today, I met with civil society partners to discuss what more the U.S. can do to support the people of Iran, particularly its brave women and girls. pic.twitter.com/d5xEnbeWfH — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 15, 2022 Protesters across Iran defied a nearly month-long crackdown on Saturday, activists said, chanting in the streets and in universities against the country"s clerical leaders in a sustained wave of anger at the death of Mahsa Amini. The protests sweeping Iran since Amini - a 22-year-old woman from the country"s Kurdish region - died on Sept. 16 while being held for “inappropriate attire” pose one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. “Sadly, but unsurprisingly, Iran’s government continues to fire on peaceful protestors rather than listening to them,” Malley said. “We had a valuable conversation with human rights activists on the situation in Iran and steps the US can take to support its people’s fundamental rights.”