The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Iran protests: Khamenei blames US and Israel

2022-10-03T11:49:51.571Z


The Iranian revolutionary leader has commented on the protests in the country for the first time. Ali Khamenei claims that these were "planned" abroad. The government continues to crack down on the population.


Enlarge image

Revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei: Blame abroad

Photo: Khamenei.ir / AFP

Iran's revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei has publicly commented on the current protests in Iran for the first time.

It began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the Iranian vice squad on September 20.

Amini was arrested for allegedly not wearing her headgear correctly.

However, as Khamenei now says, this is not the cause of the current unrest, but just a "sad incident" that "makes our hearts break".

The demonstrations against the regime, on the other hand, were orchestrated from abroad.

He told cadets in Tehran that they were part of a “foreign conspiracy” to destabilize Iran: “I will say very clearly that this unrest and insecurity was planned by America and the Zionist regime and their collaborators.”

Violent clashes at elite varsity

The "violent riots" against the Iranian state came about because "someone stirred up insecurity on the streets": "Such actions are not normal, they are unnatural."

Khamenei continued: “The task of our security forces, including the police, is to ensure the security of the Iranian nation.

Those who attack the police leave Iranian citizens vulnerable to thugs, robbers and extortionists.”

The 83-year-old Khamenei thus backed the line his government has been pursuing for the past two weeks.

His statement can also be seen as justifying an even tougher crackdown on the demonstrators, as expected following announcements by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Monday.

Qalibaf had declared in the Iranian parliament that the ongoing protests threatened to destabilize the country.

He called on the security forces to act harshly against the protesters.

At least 19 people died in the south-east of the country.

The parliament speaker compared the current protests with earlier ones and assessed them fundamentally differently: "Past protests aimed at reforms and were not aimed at overthrowing the system," said Qalibaf.

"I ask all those who have reasons to protest not to allow their protest to lead to destabilization and the overthrow of institutions."

Violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces, who have cordoned off large areas of the campus, are currently taking place around the renowned Sharif University.

According to SPIEGEL information, Germany is currently in the process of introducing further sanctions because of the Iranian state's brutal actions against its citizens.

AP/pat

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-10-03

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.