Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, has accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating anti-regime protests in response to the death in custody of a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.
State television reported that since nationwide protests broke out in recent weeks, a crackdown has resulted in the deaths of at least 41 individuals. According to Amnesty International, more than 50 people have died. (Iran’s Supreme Leader blames
“that these riots and insecurities have been engineered by the US and the fake Zionist regime while those on their payrolls and some expatriate Iranian traitors helped them,” Khamenei said in his first remarks since the protests began.
In a public speech on Monday, Khamenei told Iran’s armed forces that he was also “hurt” by “this incident,” which was the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who had been arrested by morality police in Tehran, the capital. According to her family, she was beaten while being held at the morality centre. The police officers denied this and stated that her death was caused by a condition that she already had.
But Iran’s top leader said that it was “not normal” to see “some have made streets insecure, set alight the Koran, taken away the hijab from religious women’s heads and set alight mosques, religious venues, and people’s cars” while investigations were underway into what caused her death.
“The country’s police forces, the Basij—the Revolutionary Guards’ voluntary forces—and the Iranian people were the victims of injustice in these incidents. Naturally, the Iranian nation participated strongly in this incident and will continue to do so in the future.
The most unrest in Iran since the riots in 2019 over rising fuel prices is currently taking place. At night, young people have taken to the streets, and during the day, they have protested at universities. The theocratic state’s supreme leader, Khamenei, is the target of many protesters’ slogans, not hardline president Ebrahim Raisi. (Iran’s Supreme Leader blames)
In addition to calling for the establishment of a democratic, secular system, protesters are initially outraged at the treatment of Amini and the requirement to wear the hijab.
Students at the prestigious Sharif University in Tehran staged a protest on Sunday evening, chanting anti-regime slogans and demanding the release of students who had been detained. The students later stated in a statement that security personnel detained more than 30 students on Sunday alone. On Monday, the university made the announcement that classes would only be offered online until further notice.
Western leaders have criticized the regime’s crackdown and expressed support for the protesters.
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, stated that his administration stood in solidarity with “the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran, who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.” On Monday, the United Kingdom summoned the charge affairs of Iran in London to express its condemnation of Tehran’s crackdown on protesters and its call for the regime to uphold the right to peaceful assembly.
James Cleverly, Britain’s foreign secretary, stated, “The violence that the security forces have used against protesters in Iran is truly shocking.” They ought to accept responsibility for their actions and pay attention to the concerns of their people rather than placing blame on external actors for the upheaval. (Iran’s Supreme Leader blames)
“The same enemy [the United States] who says in its diplomatic comments that it has no intention to strike Iran or change the [political] system, holds these intentions deep down and seeks to create riots and make the country insecure,” Khamenei stated.
He continued: If this young girl hadn’t been the problem, another reason would have been found to make the country unsafe and cause riots.
“it has become clear how the Great Satan [the US] and Zionists are leading the scene and training and equipping terrorists to threaten Iranians’ security,” Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Monday.
