Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, declared on Friday that the Islamic republic would “not back down” in the face of demonstrations following the largest gatherings to date in a nearly two-week-long movement spurred by resentment over the rising cost of living. Crowds of people against the clerical establishment marched through major cities late on Thursday, chanting chants like “death to the dictator” and burning government buildings on fire.
The country has “now been offline for 12 hours… in an attempt to suppress sweeping protests,” according to internet watchdog Netblocks, which also stated early on Friday that authorities had implemented a complete blackout of connectivity late on Thursday.
Protesters publicly want an end to the Islamic republic’s theocratic leadership, making the protests one of the largest challenges the country has faced in its more than 45 years of existence. However, in his initial remarks regarding the protests that have been intensifying since January 3, Khamenei took a belligerent tone, referring to the protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs” in a speech that was aired on state television.
Khamenei claimed that US President Donald Trump’s hands “are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians,” seemingly alluding to Israel’s June war on the Islamic republic, which the US encouraged and participated in with its own strikes.
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