Iran’s Leader Says Rioters ‘Must Be Put In Their Place’ As Protest Death Toll Reaches At Least 15

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader insisted Saturday that “the rebels must be put in their place” a week of protests These shook the Islamic Republic and likely gave security forces the green light to aggressively suppress the demonstrations.

The first comments by 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came after violence during demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy killed at least 15 people, according to human rights advocates. Protests show no signs of stopping or following through US President Donald Trump warned Iran On Friday, he said that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters” the United States would “come to their aid.”

While it remains unclear how and whether Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate angry backlash, with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Middle East. They also took on new significance after Trump said on Saturday that the US military had captured the Venezuelan President. Nicolas MaduroIt is a long-time ally of Tehran.

The protests have grown into the largest protests in Iran since 2022. Mahsa Amini, 22 years old The police detention triggered demonstrations across the country. However, the protests are not yet as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained for not wearing a headscarf or headscarf to the authorities’ liking.

State television broadcast Khamenei’s remarks to an audience in Tehran, trying to separate the concerns of protesting Iranians upset about the collapse of the rial from those of “rioters.”

“We are talking to the protesters, the authorities need to talk to them as well,” Khamenei said. “But there is no use talking to the rebels. The rebels must be put in their place.”

He also repeated, without providing any evidence, that authorities in Iran have repeatedly claimed that foreign powers such as Israel or the United States are suppressing protests. He also blamed the “enemy” for the collapse of the Iranian rial.

“A group of people, incited or hired by the enemy, stand behind shopkeepers and shopkeepers and chant slogans against Islam, Iran and the Islamic Republic,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”

The ranks of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard include the all-volunteer Basij force, whose motorcycle-riding members have violently suppressed protests such as the 2009 Green Movement and the 2022 demonstrations. The guard only answers to Khamenei.

Hardline authorities in the country are believed to be pushing for a more aggressive response to the demonstrations, as President Masoud Pezeshkian seeks talks to address protesters’ demands.

But such protests are often followed by bloody security measures. More than 300 people were reported to have died in protests over the increase in gasoline prices in 2019. More than 500 people died and more than 22,000 were detained in the months-long crackdown on Amini protests in 2022.

“Iran has no organized internal opposition; protesters are likely acting spontaneously,” the Eurasia Group said in its analysis Friday. “While protests may continue or grow larger (especially as Iran’s economic outlook remains dire), the regime retains a large security apparatus and will likely suppress such opposition without losing control of the country.”

Two deaths overnight on Saturday sparked a new level of violence. A grenade exploded in Qom, home to the country’s leading Shiite theological schools, killing one person, according to the state-owned IRAN newspaper. Security officials were quoted as saying the man claimed he was carrying a grenade to attack people in the city, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital Tehran.

Online videos from Qom allegedly show fires breaking out in the street throughout the night.

The second death occurred in the town of Harsin, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) southwest of Tehran. The newspaper said that a member of Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was killed in a gun and knife attack in the town in Kermanshah province.

Demonstrations have reached more than 170 locations in 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported early Sunday. It was stated that the death toll reached at least 15 dead and more than 580 people were arrested. The group, which relies on its network of activists in Iran for reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

The state-run IRNA news agency separately reported what it described as violence in Malekshahi County in Iran’s Ilam province, about 515 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Tehran. He did not offer any specific details.

Kurdish human rights group Hengaw and Oslo-based Iranian Human Rights group announced the death toll in the violence here as four. Both groups accused Iranian security forces of opening fire on demonstrators.

The semi-official Fars news agency, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed without providing evidence that demonstrators were carrying firearms and grenades. Firearms are more common in western Iran and along the Iraqi border, but no clear evidence has been provided by the government to support claims that demonstrators were armed.

In the protests rooted in economic problems, demonstrators were also heard chanting slogans against the Iranian theocracy. Tehran has had little luck supporting its economy in the months since. June war with Israel in which The US also bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in Iran.

Iran recently said this no longer enriches uranium Elsewhere in the country, he is trying to signal to the West that he is open to potential talks on the atomic program aimed at sanctions relief. However, these talks have not yet taken place, as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have done. Warns Tehran not to rebuild atomic program.