(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP).
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded publicly on Monday to the biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called “rioting” and accuse the United States and Israel of planning the protests.
However, he lambasted the protests as a foreign plot to destabilize Iran, echoing authorities’ previous comments.
“These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zionist regime, and their employees.”.
The state-run IRNA news agency sought to downplay the violent standoff, reporting a “protest gathering” took place without causing casualties.
That wave of student protests under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami touched off the worst street battles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. »