Iran's supreme leader calls violent protesters 'thugs' and backs the government decision to raise gasoline prices 50%. It's difficult to gauge the state of unrest because the government has shut down internet access across the nation of 80 million people.
In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei talks to clerics in his Islamic thoughts class in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019. Iran's supreme leader on Sunday backed the government's decision to raise gasoline prices and called angry protesters who have been setting fire to public property over the hike "thugs," signaling a potential crackdown on the demonstrations.
Since the hike, demonstrators have abandoned cars along major highways and joined mass protests in the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere. Some protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fires as gunfire rang out. In an address aired Sunday by state television, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “some lost their lives and some places were destroyed,” without elaborating. He called the protesters “thugs” who had been pushed into violence by counterrevolutionaries and foreign enemies of Iran.
That seemed to indicate a crackdown could be looming. Economic protests in late 2017 into 2018, as well as those surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election, were met with a heavy reaction by the police and the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. While representing a political risk for Rouhani ahead of February parliamentary elections, the demonstrations also show widespread anger among the Iranian people, who have seen their savings evaporate amid scarce jobs and the collapse of the national currency, the rial.
“The ongoing disruption is the most severe recorded in Iran since President Rouhani came to power, and the most severe disconnection tracked by NetBlocks in any country in terms of its technical complexity and breadth,” the group said. The internet firm Oracle called it “the largest internet shutdown ever observed in Iran.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Iran's supreme leader warns 'thugs' amid violent gas price protestsAt least one person was killed and hundreds arrested, according to state media, after clashes in cities across the Islamic Republic saw security forces fire tear gas and live ammunition.
Read more »
French interior minister blames protest violence on 'thugs'French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner blamed 'thugs' and '...
Read more »
Iran's supreme leader warns 'thugs' amid violent gas price protestsAt least one person was killed and hundreds arrested, according to state media, after clashes in cities across the Islamic Republic saw security forces fire tear gas and live ammunition.
Read more »
Iran leader backs petrol price hike that sparked deadly unrestA policeman was killed in the western city of Kermanhshah in a clash with armed 'rioters', the second confirmed death since protests erupted across Iran.
Read more »
Iran TV: Supreme leader backs government on gas price hikesBREAKING: Iran’s supreme leader supports the government’s decision to increase gasoline prices and says those setting fire to public property during protests against the hikes are “bandits” backed by the enemies of Iran, the country’s state TV reports.
Read more »
Protests strike Iran cities over gasoline prices risingOvernight protests in several Iranian cities continue, sparked by government cuts on gasoline subsidies and increasing costs by 50%, with demonstrations ranging from people abandoning their cars in traffic to trying to attack an oil depot in one city.
Read more »