Supreme leader says authorities should only \u2018talk to protesters\u2019, not rioters, as antigovernment demonstrations grow
\n Tehran
\nIran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted that \u201crioters must be put in their place\u201d after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic.
\nThe first comments by 86-year-old Khamenei on Saturday come as violence surrounding the demonstrations over Iran\u2019s ailing economy has killed at least 10 people.
\nThe protests show no sign of stopping and come as United States President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Friday that if Tehran \u201cviolently kills peaceful protesters\u201d, Washington \u201cwill come to their rescue\u201d.
\nWhile it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, especially in the wake of a huge US military attack on Venezuela and the purported capture of its President Nicolas Maduro, his comments led to an immediate, angry response from Iranian officials.
\nIran\u2019s United Nations Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani has written to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council, urging them to condemn \u201cunlawful threats\u201d towards Tehran from Trump.
\nAli Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has said that US interference \u201cis equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests\u201d.
\nThe protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations.
\nHowever, the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, as authorities demanded.
\nSpeaking to an audience in Tehran, state television aired remarks by Khamenei that sought to separate the concerns of protesting Iranians, upset about the rial\u2019s collapse, from \u201crioters\u201d.
\n\u201cWe talk to protesters, the officials must talk to them,\u201d Khamenei said. \u201cBut there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place.\u201d
\nHe reiterated a claim constantly made by officials in Iran, that foreign powers like Israel or the US were pushing the protests, without offering any evidence. He also blamed \u201cthe enemy\u201d for Iran\u2019s collapsing rial.
\n\u201cA bunch of people incited or hired by the enemy are getting behind the tradesmen and shopkeepers and chanting slogans against Islam, Iran and the Islamic Republic,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what matters most.\u201d
\nKhamenei also said the US \u201cmust and will leave\u201d the region.
\nEconomic downturn
\nIran\u2019s civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal it wants to negotiate with protesters.
\nHowever, Pezeshkian has acknowledged there is not much he can do as Iran\u2019s rial has rapidly depreciated. That prompted the initial protests.
\nThe protests, taking root in economic issues, have seen demonstrators chant against Iran\u2019s government, as well, with clashes happening in multiple cities, leading to several deaths and dozens of arrests, according to Iranian authorities.
\nTehran has had little luck in propping up its economy in the months since its June war with Israel, in which the US also bombed nuclear sites in Iran.
\nIran recently said it was no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic programme to ease sanctions.
\nHowever, those talks have yet to happen as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not only threatened Tehran against reconstituting its nuclear programme, but now have Iran\u2019s missile programme in their crosshairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Supreme leader says authorities should only \u2018talk to protesters\u2019, not rioters, as antigovernment demonstrations grow Tehran Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted that \u201crioters must be put in their place\u201d after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic. The first comments by 86-year-old Khamenei on Saturday come as violence surrounding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-523690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n