Khamenei blames US Israel for protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini death
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Khamenei blames US,Israel for protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini's death
Iran'ssupreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the United States and Israel fornationwide protests that erupted after custodial death of 22-year-old MahsaAmini. This is Khamenei's first public statement on the issue the protestsover which have rocked the Islamic Republic for nearly a month now.
In hiscomments, Khamenei said that police must "stand up to criminals" andadded that "whoever attacks the police leaves the people defencelessagainst criminals, thugs, thieves".
"Thedeath of the young woman broke our hearts," said Khamenei. "But what isnot normal is that some people, without proof or an investigation, have madethe streets dangerous, burned the Koran, removed hijabs from veiled women andset fire to mosques and cars".
The Iranianregime has regularly described protesters as 'rioters' and has sought to paintthe protests as something that detrimental to Iranian society. Iranian PresidentEbrahim Raisi's recent address to the nation was no exception.
Concern grewabout a crackdown overnight on students at Tehran's prestigious SharifUniversity of Technology where, local media reported, riot police carryingsteel pellet guns used tear gas and paintball guns against hundreds ofstudents.