Khamenei blames ‘enemies’ for unrest
TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader blamed "enemies" yesterday for unrest that has seen 21 deaths as Washington sought to increase pressure on the Islamic regime that was facing its biggest test in years.
As this developed, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, called on the international community to speak out on the unfolding protests in Iran, saying the US would seek emergency UN talks on the situation.
"The people of Iran are crying out for freedom," Haley said at a news conference. "All freedomloving people must stand with their cause."
She said the United States would be seeking emergency sessions of the UN Security Council and the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission in the coming days.
In a speech carried on state television, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei broke his silence on the protests for the first time since they erupted last Thursday.
"The enemies have united and are using all their means, money, weapons, policies and security services to create problems for the Islamic regime," the supreme leader said.
"The enemy is always looking for an opportunity and any crevice to infiltrate and strike the Iranian nation."
Even reformists, who backed the last major protest movement in 2009, condemned the unrest and the support it has received from the United States.
But they also urged the authorities to address economic grievances that have fuelled the protests.
"The Iranian people are confronted with difficulties in their daily lives... and have the right to peacefully demand and protest," said a statement from the Association of Combatant Clerics, headed by reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
A fifth night of unrest Monday to Tuesday saw six protesters killed during an attack on a police station in Qahderijan in the central province of Isfahan, state TV said.
At least three other towns near the cultural hub of Isfahan also saw violence overnight, causing the deaths of a young member of the Revolutionary Guards, a policeman and a bystander.
The estimated death toll is now 21 since protests began in second city Mashhad and quickly spread to become the biggest challenge to the Islamic regime since mass demonstrations in 2009.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini late Tuesday deplored "the unacceptable loss of human lives" and called on "all concerned to refrain from violence."
As violence has grown, authorities have stepped up arrests, with at least 450 people detained in Tehran since Saturday and 100 more around Isfahan on Monday, media reported.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Tehran since the latest protests began, praised the demonstrators for acting against the "brutal and corrupt" regime and said Iranians had "little food, big inflation and no human rights."
Iran's foreign ministry said Trump was "wasting his time sending useless and insulting tweets" and would be better off focusing on "homeless and hungry people" in his own country.