Ayatollah blames Iran’s enemies for unrest as death toll rises to 22
IRAN’S supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the country’s enemies for civil unrest that has so far claimed 22 lives.
More than 450 protesters have been arrested in the capital Tehran in the past three days.
But US president Donald Trump yesterday praised the protests against a “brutal and corrupt” regime.
Nine people, including a child and two members of the security forces, died on Monday night and police stations across the country were attacked.
The Ayatollah wrote on his website: “In recent days, enemies of Iran used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic.” His reference to “enemies” is a swipe at Israel, the US and rival Saudi Arabia.
First staged against price rises and corruption, the protests, which broke out last Thursday, have spread amid wider anti-government sentiment.
Protesters also gathered outside the Iranian embassy in London yesterday. Iran’s deputy interior minister Hossein Zolfaghari said that 90 per cent of those detained were under 25, underlining frustration among the youth.
But Iran’s judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani ordered prosecutors on Monday to “punish rioters firmly”.
Mr Trump tweeted: “The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their ‘pockets’.”
Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said Iran should permit “meaningful debate about the legitimate and important issues that the protesters are raising”.