Surrounded by cheers and loyal followers, the supreme leader of Iranhe Avoid ali jameneíhas starred this Friday in a warlike speech full of attacks both against the protesters who have taken to the streets of large Iranian cities over the last two weeks and against the American president, Donald Trump.
Khamenei has blamed everything that happened on the American billionaire, and has described the protesters, probably hundreds of thousands during the demonstration this Thursday night across the country, as “mercenaries who work for foreign powers“.
“Everyone should know that Islamic Republic came to power through blood of thousands of peopleall of them noble. And now it will not crumble before those who seek to destroy it,” the Ayatollah said this Friday, when he continued:
“We will not tolerate mercenaries for foreigners. Whoever you are: when you become a mercenary, our nation rejects you. And Trump, who sits on his arrogant throne and judges the world… let him know that many despots of history They were deposed at the peak of their pride. He will be too,” said Khamenei, who, in fact, is the target of the anger of the Iranian protests.
These began 12 days ago, when electronics merchants began a strike and small protest against the enormous rial depreciationthe Iranian currency, which lost more than half its value last year.
The protest multiplied, and day by day, the numbers and tone have been rising. Now the protesters are no longer calling for economic improvement, but for “death to the dictator”in reference to Khamenei, leader of a repressive system based on large-scale institutional corruption, especially among members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guardthe political-military elite body of the Persian country.
Violence and restrictions
In total—although the data is incomplete—several health organizations human rights they assure that 45 people have died during the protests and more than 2,200 have been arrested. The real figure, however, could be higher, since the internet has been completely blocked in Iran since Thursday afternoon, when the largest demonstration to date took place.
This Friday another large demonstration is called, following a call – like the one on Thursday – from the son of the last shah, Reza Pahlaviwho tries to establish himself as the dissident leader and opposition in exile, divided after decades of persecution and repression, both within the country and abroad.
“I am proud of all those who took to the streets of Iran on Thursday night. A massive crowd forces the repressive forces to retreat. Those who still hesitate, let them join their compatriots on Friday night, and expand the crowd to further weaken the repressive power of the regime. I know that, despite the internet and communications cuts, they will not abandon the streets,” Pahlaví said this Friday on his social networks.
To date, however, the protests have not reached the large demonstrations of 2022 throughout the country in numbers or violence over the death of the young Mahsa Aminí at the hands of the morality police. That wave of protests resulted in the death of 558 peopleaccording to human rights organizations.
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