Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a brief address to the nation that was aired by state television, in which he slammed the US and President Donald Trump as well as the demonstrators while signalling a crackdown by authorities. “Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people, and it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” Khamenei said. He said the Islamic Republic would not tolerate individuals acting as “mercenaries” for foreign powers.
He alleged that the protesters on Iran’s streets were acting to please the US president. “They want to make him happy. If he knew how to run a country, he would run his own,” he said, adding that there were many problems in the United States.
When he accused demonstrators of “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” in an apparent reference to former US President Donald Trump, the audience responded with chants of “Death to America!”
The Iranian state TV broadcast footage of apparent street fires in Tehran as protesters shouted and marched through the streets into Friday morning.
Khamenei insisted that the Islamic republic would “not back down” in the face of protesters who he called “vandals” and “saboteurs”.
“The hands of the US president are stained with the blood of more than 1,000 Iranians,” Khamenei said in his address, referring to the attacks last June by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Khamenei predicted that the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like other similar leaders and the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.
Khameni targeted the US president saying Trump should know that the arrogant people of the world, such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Khan, and Mohammad Reza, were overthrown at the height of their arrogance; he too will be overthrown
Ali Khamenei urged supporters to remain united. “Dear young people, keep your readiness and your unity. A united nation will overcome any enemy,” he said.
Khamenei took aim at Donald Trump, advising him to focus on the problems within his own country rather than commenting on Iran. The remarks come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Meanwhile, images posted on social media show Iranians in Tehran and Gorgan chanting slogans like “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei”.
Iran was largely cut off on Friday after authorities blacked out the internet to curb the protests, with phone calls not reaching the country, flights being cancelled and online Iranian news sites sharing updates intermittently. The protests that began over soaring inflation late last month have spiralled into the biggest in three years, with unrest reported in every province.
