As Iran protests persist, supreme leader blames foreigners for unrest

As Iran protests persist, supreme leader blames foreigners for unrest

Washington Post – Oct 3rd 2022

In his first public comments on the protests sweeping Iran, its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday characterized the unrest as “rioting” instigated by foreign powers, including the United States and Israel.

His remarks, to military cadets at a graduation ceremony in Tehran, appeared to dismiss the anger fueling the largest and most widespread protests in Iran in several years. They erupted two weeks ago in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who fell into a coma after she was arrested by members of Iran’s “morality police,” allegedly for violating the Islamic republic’s conservative dress code.

In recent days, a new front of the protests emerged on university campuses across the country, including at an elite university in the capital that was besieged by security forces, according to activists and student groups. A national student group said that as of Saturday, students at more than 100 Iranian universities had joined a call to boycott classes in solidarity with the protests.

Videos posted on social media Monday also appeared to show young girls demonstrating at their schools, and repeating some of the protest movement’s familiar slogans.

Khamenei — a frequent target of derision in the protesters’ chants — said Amini’s death “broke our hearts” but called the reaction “unnatural,” according to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency. “How is it that some people do not see the foreign hand?” he was quoted as saying.

The protests, many led by women, are fueled by a litany of grievances: fury over Amini’s death, at the morality police who detained her and the mandatory strictures, like wearing the headscarf, that they enforce, as well as broader anger at the security services, the government and Iran’s clerical establishment. Gatherings to show solidarity with Iran’s protesters have attracted thousands of people in cities around the world.

The government crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 52 people, according to Amnesty International, and has included the use of live fire by the security services and the throttling of internet service to prevent demonstrators from organizing.