White House Says Iranian Government 'Scared' By Egypt Upheaval

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad marks the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran.

The White House says Iran's censoring of foreign news reports on the unrest in Egypt shows how the authorities in Tehran fear their own people.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Iranian government was "scared of the will of its people."

Gibbs' comments come after the BBC said Iran was electronically jamming its Persian-language television broadcasts of the protests in Egypt.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad told celebrations on February 11 marking the 32nd anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution that the Egyptian upheaval was an "Islamic awakening."

Officials in Iran today said Mubarak's ouster should serve as a warning to other Western-backed leaders in the Arab world.

Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the head of the country's Supreme National Security Council, said Mubarak and his Western backers "heard the voice of the Egyptian people 30 years too late." He called Mubarak's resignation a triumph for Middle East nations.

compiled from agency reports