Iran’s supreme leader has vowed that authorities will not back down in the face of a rapidly growing protest movement, setting the stage for an intensified violent crackdown as demonstrations and a nationwide internet shutdown continued on Friday.
Protests have raged in cities and towns across the country in recent days, posing a threat to the authority of the regime, which has been significantly weakened since the last large protest movement in the country in 2022.
In his first speech since demonstrations started on 28 December, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs” and accused them of working on behalf of foreign agendas.
Protesters were “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy … because he said he would come to their aid”, Khamenei said, referring to Donald Trump who has threatened American intervention in Iran if authorities kill protesters…..
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After the truth-shower 