According to Aljazeera News, In a televised address, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States and Israel of instigating and fueling nationwide protests, claiming their involvement led to widespread fatalities, his comments mark a significant escalation in the regime’s rhetoric regarding the unrest that has periodically shaken the country.
The protests, which erupted in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, saw one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s clerical establishment in decades. International human rights groups have reported that hundreds of protestors and bystanders were killed in the subsequent crackdown by security forces.
In his speech, Khamenei flatly rejected these accounts, instead placing the blame and the death toll squarely on foreign adversaries. “These riots were planned in America and the Zionist regime.
“The link of the Americans and the Zionists to these matters is clear, with their media, their money, and their political support, they sought to create turmoil in Iran, the result of their actions was the death of thousands of people, Khamenei stated.
He provided no evidence for the alleged foreign planning or for the claim of thousands killed, a figure that far exceeds estimates by most independent observers. Norwegian-based group Iran Human Rights, for instance, documented around 500 deaths during the peak of the 2022 protests.
Analysts suggest the Supreme Leader’s remarks are aimed at reinforcing a longstanding regime narrative that paints domestic dissent as the product of a foreign conspiracy, thereby legitimizing a severe security response. “This is a classic deflection tactic, said Dr. Sanam Vakil of Chatham House. “By invoking an external enemy, the leadership seeks to discredit the genuine, organic grievances of its own people and justify the suppression as a national defense measure.
The United States has consistently denied involvement in fomenting the protests, maintaining they are a domestic response to human rights violations, the Israeli government has not issued an immediate response to Khamenei’s latest allegations. See More
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