Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered an angry statement on Saturday addressing the widespread protests that have erupted across the nation, which are targeting his government’s alleged political and economic corruption.
In his first public address since strikes and civil disorder began shaking his administration a week prior, the 86-year-old leader claimed that “A number of agitated people, enemy mercenaries, had positioned themselves behind bazaar merchants and chanted slogans against Islam, against Iran and against the Islamic Republic.”
He further stated, “Protest is legitimate, but protest is different from rioting,” while cautioning that “officials should speak with protesters. Speaking with a rioter is pointless. Rioters must be put in their place.”
Khamenei’s characterization of pro-democracy activists as “rioters” comes after an expression of support for the demonstrators on Friday. “If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” former President Donald Trump posted on the Truth Social platform.
Information provided to Digital by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a group dedicated to overthrowing Khamenei’s government, indicates that security forces loyal to the leader once again used live ammunition against protesters.
In Malekshahi, located in Ilam province, youths held a demonstration. Reports state that government forces shot at non-violent activists, causing fatalities and injuries.
By Saturday, the death toll from the regime’s actions had reached at least ten. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, protests occurred in over 100 areas spanning 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces. The NCRI reported that 30 demonstrators in Malekshahi were shot and are now in critical condition.
The opposition organization also reported that on Saturday, residents of Kazerun gathered in the city’s Shohada Square, where security personnel fired live rounds at the crowd. Elsewhere, young people in Shiraz’s Golshan district blocked a road by igniting tires.
At Shahrood University of Technology, students were heard chanting, “Students will die but not accept humiliation,” while students at Allameh University’s Hemmat dormitory in Tehran shouted, “Death to the dictator.”
In a Saturday response to Khamenei, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajiv stated, “Khamenei is right; 80 million Iranians are his enemy. They have only one message for him: pack up his rule and remove his scourge from the Iranian people. Better still if he comes to his senses and leaves of his own accord.” She continued, “Khamenei must know that threats, bluster, and repression cannot stop the uprising. A nation who has taken to the streets will not stand down until democracy and popular sovereignty are achieved.”
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last Shah, wrote on X, “Ali Khamenei, fearing the growing waves of this national uprising, has emerged from his hiding place to threaten the people of Iran. Khamenei: We, the people of Iran, will pull you down from your teetering perch like Zahhak the despot and will free our beloved Iran from you and your regime.”
He added, “To the military and law enforcement forces: do not tie your fate to the sinking ship of the Islamic Republic. Join the people and separate yourselves from this regime. Your weapons are for defending the nation, not suppressing it. Those who fire bullets at the people should be certain that they will be identified and punished. Fellow countrymen: do not abandon the streets; increase your presence. The world sees your resistance and bravery and supports you.”