Iran protests: Khamenei warns rioters as death toll rises to at least 15

Irans supreme leader insisted Saturday that rioters must be put in their place after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic likely giving security forces a green light to aggressively put down the demonstrations The first comments by 86yearold Ayatollah Ali Khamenei come as violence surrounding the demonstrations sparked by Irans ailing economy has killed at least 15 people according to human rights activistsThe protests show no sign of stopping and follow US President Donald Trump warning Iran on Friday that if Tehran violently kills peaceful protesters the United States will come to their rescueWhile it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene his comments sparked an immediate angry response with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast They also take on new importance after Trump said Saturday that the US military captured Venezuelan President Nicolaacutes Maduro a longtime ally of TehranThe protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022 when the death of 22yearold Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations However the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini who was detained over not wearing her hijab or headscarf to the liking of authoritiesKhamenei makes first comments on protestsState television aired remarks by Khamenei to an audience in Tehran that sought to separate the concerns of protesting Iranians upset about the rials collapse from rioters We talk to protesters the officials must talk to them Khamenei said But there is no benefit to talking to rioters Rioters must be put in their placeHe also reiterated a claim constantly made by officials in Iran that foreign powers like Israel or the United States were pushing the protests without offering any evidence He also blamed the enemy for Irans collapsing rialA bunch of people incited or hired by the enemy are getting behind the tradesmen and shopkeepers and chanting slogans against Islam Iran and the Islamic Republic he said This is what matters mostIrans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard ranks include the allvolunteer Basij force whose motorcyclingriding members have violently put down protests like the 2009 Green Movement and the 2022 demonstrations The Guard answers only to KhameneiHardline officials within the country are believed to have been pushing for a moreaggressive response to the demonstrations as President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought talks to address protesters demandsBut bloody security crackdowns often follow such protests Protests over a gasoline price hike in 2019 reportedly saw over 300 people killed A crackdown on the Amini protests of 2022 which lasted for months killed more than 500 people and saw over 22000 detainedIran has no organized domestic opposition protesters are likely acting spontaneously the Eurasia Group said in an analysis Friday While protests could continue or grow larger particularly as Irans economic outlook remains dire the regime retains a large security apparatus and would likely suppress such dissent without losing control of the countryDeaths overnight in protestsTwo deaths overnight into Saturday involved a new level of violence In Qom home to the countrys major Shiite seminaries a grenade exploded killing a man there the stateowned IRAN newspaper reported It quoted security officials alleging the man was carrying the grenade to attack people in the city some 130 kilometers 80 miles south of the capital TehranOnline videos from Qom purportedly showed fires in the street overnight The second death happened in the town of Harsin some 370 kilometers 230 miles southwest of Tehran There the newspaper said a member of the Basij the allvolunteer arm of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in a gun and knife attack in the town in Kermanshah provinceDemonstrations have reached over 170 locations in 25 of Irans 31 provinces the USbased Human Rights Activists News Agency reported early Sunday The death toll had reached at least 15 killed it added with over 580 arrests The group which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting has been accurate in past unrestThe staterun IRNA news agency separately reported on what it described as violence in Malekshahi County in Irans Ilam province some 515 kilometers 320 miles southwest of Tehran It offered no specific detailsHengaw a Kurdish human rights group and the Oslobased group Iran Human Rights put the death toll at four in the violence there Both groups accused Iranian security forces of opening fire on demonstratorsThe semiofficial Fars news agency believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard alleged without offering evidence that demonstrators carried firearms and grenades Firearms are more prevalent in western Iran along the border with Iraq but theres been no clear evidence provided by the government to support allegations of demonstrators being armedThe protests taking root in economic issues have heard demonstrators chant against Irans theocracy as well Tehran has had little luck in propping up its economy in the months since its June war with Israel in which the US also bombed Iranian nuclear sites in IranIran recently said it was no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program to ease sanctions However those talks have yet to happen as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned Tehran against reconstituting its atomic programThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever