DUBAI, (Reuters) – Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday said that no one should dare think they can uproot the Islamic Republic, in his toughest warning to protesters since Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody ignited nationwide unrest now in its fourth week.
Demonstrations by people from all walks of life, after the Iranian Kurdish woman’s death following her arrest for “inappropriate attire”, have evolved into widespread calls for the downfall of Khamenei and the Islamic Republic.
The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 revolution, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.
Khamenei compared the Islamic Republic to an unshakeable tree. “That seedling is a mighty tree now and no one should dare think they can uproot it,” he said on state TV.
Some of the deadliest unrest has been in areas home to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances against the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.
Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls.
Amnesty International said at least 23 children have died.
Police deployed heavily on Friday in the city of Dezful, a witness said, after activists called for protests in the predominantly ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border.
Social media videos show protesters chanting “Death to the dictator” in Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan. Basij volunteer militia forces leading the crackdown on motorbikes were seen pushing people back.
“There are dozens of Basijis. Pushing protesters, beating them. Men, women are chanting ‘We are Kurdistan, We are Lorestan’”, a witness said, slogans that are meant to show solidarity among Iran’s ethnic minorities.
There was heavy deployment of police and the Basij in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province at the border with Pakistan in the southeast, two witnesses said.
The activist 1500tasvir posted a video on Twitter purported to show protesters marching in Zahedan. “Crimes, crimes, death to this religious leadership,” they chanted, referring to Khamenei, who has been in power for 33 years.
Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers. The authorities deny security forces have killed protesters. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed.
