Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public remarks since the protests began, signalling a tougher crackdown by security forces while distinguishing between protesters and “rioters”.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran against violently suppressing protesters, prompting angry responses from Iranian officials and heightened regional tensions.
Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday asserted that “rioters must be put in their place” following a week of protests that have rattled the Islamic Republic, a stance widely seen as signalling tougher action by security forces to quell the unrest.
The remarks, the first by 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the demonstrations began, come amid escalating violence linked to protests driven by Iran’s struggling economy. Human rights activists say at least 15 people have been killed. The unrest shows no sign of abating and follows a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”
While it remains unclear whether or how Trump might intervene, his comments triggered an immediate and angry reaction from Iranian officials, with figures in the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Middle East. The statements also gained added significance after Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. military had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Tehran.
The current demonstrations are the largest Iran has seen since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody sparked nationwide protests. However, they have not yet matched the scale or intensity of the unrest that followed Amini’s death after she was detained for allegedly not wearing her hijab in line with official expectations.
Khamenei first comments on protests
State television broadcast Khamenei’s address to an audience in Tehran, in which he sought to draw a distinction between Iranians protesting economic hardship, including the collapse of the rial, and what he described as “rioters”.
“We talk to protesters, the officials must talk to them,” Khamenei said. “But there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place.”
He also repeated a long-standing claim by Iranian authorities that foreign powers such as Israel and the United States were fomenting the protests, offering no evidence to support the allegation. In addition, he blamed “the enemy” for the sharp fall in the value of Iran’s currency.
(with inputs from AP)
