Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has addressed for the first time ongoing demonstrations protesting the death of a woman arrested for wearing a scarf, while rivals the US and Israel planned riots. He emphasized his stance of cracking down on demonstrators.
In Iran, protests have continued sporadically over the death of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested last month for wearing a scarf inappropriately, alleging police brutality was the cause.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei first mentioned this in a speech on the 3rd, saying, "The death of a young woman is a painful event and pains me, but I am sorry to hear that you have set fire to banks and cars and disturbed the public order. It's not a normal reaction to do something like that. I assert that the United States and Israel planned the riot."
Khamenei then said, ``The judicial authorities should punish according to how they are involved in vandalism,'' emphasizing the stance of cracking down on demonstrators.
In this demonstration, clashes with security officials occurred one after another, mainly at universities in various parts of Iran, and according to state media, 41 people have died so far, but human rights groups have said that the actual number of deaths is It is pointed out that it will exceed that, and there is concern that the number of victims will increase further if the crackdown is strengthened.