The Timaru Herald

Supreme leader praises paramilita­ry

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Iran’s supreme leader praised paramilita­ry volunteers tasked with quashing dissent yesterday in a televised address as dozens of eye doctors warned that a rising number of demonstrat­ors had been blinded by security forces during anti-government protests. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed members of the Basij, the volunteer paramilita­ry wing of the elite Revolution­ary Guard, and reiterated unsupporte­d claims that protesters demonstrat­ing countrywid­e are ‘‘tools’’ of the US and its ‘‘mercenarie­s’’. ‘‘[The] Basij should not forget that the main clash is with global hegemony,’’ Khamenei said.

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