Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called anti-government protesters “troublemakers” who are trying “to please the president of the US”.
Khamenei remained defiant in a televised address on January 9.
“Let everyone know that the Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this,” he said.
In remarks made to a gathering of supporters and broadcast on state television, Khamenei doubled down, saying Iran “will not shirk from dealing with destructive elements”.
Iran’s United Nations Ambassador accused the US of “interfering in Iran’s internal affairs through threats, incitement, and the deliberate encouragement of instability and violence,” in a letter to the Security Council.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on January 11 pledged to address mounting economic grievances, saying his government is “ready to listen to its people”.
The Iranian security and judicial authorities issued a series of coordinated warnings, hardening their rhetoric and echoing an earlier message of “no leniency” by Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
Iran’s National Security Council – responsible for domestic security said “decisive and necessary legal action will be taken” against protesters.
The intelligence arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would not tolerate what it described as “terrorist acts”, asserting that it would continue its operations “until the complete defeat of the enemy’s plan”.