Amid massive protests in the country, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the Islamic Republic would not back down in the face of protests and would not tolerate what he described as work on behalf of foreign powers. “Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic will not retreat,It will not tolerate serving foreigners,” he said, according to remarks aired on state television.
Khamenei said that anyone who worked for outside forces would be rejected by both the people and the Islamic system. His remarks came after an internet blackout was reported in Iran on Thursday, which extended into Friday.
Videos are going viral showing Iranian women lighting cigarettes by burning photographs of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an act widely seen as an open challenge to the country’s supreme leader.
Unrest has since spread across Iran amid deepening distress over economic difficulties, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, as well as curbs on political and social freedoms.
The current protests are considered to be the biggest wave of dissent in three years and began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, led by shopkeepers condemning the currency’s free fall.
Unrest has since spread across Iran amid deepening distress over economic difficulties, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, as well as curbs on political and social freedoms.
52% Inflation Rate
The inflation rate in December was 52 per cent year on year, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran, an official body. Iranian authorities have acknowledged the economic hardships facing Iranians but have accused networks linked to foreign powers of triggering the protests.
Trump’s Warning
US President Donald Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America will come to their rescue.”
Iran has “been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump said, speaking to talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
