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Iran’s Supreme Leader declares Tehran ‘successfully foiled attempts to overthrow the Ayatollah regime’

The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed that his country has successfully foiled attempts by its foreign enemies to turn legitimate protests into an insurgency aimed to overthrow Tehran’s clerical regime.

Ayatollah Khamenei further said that US President Donald Trump was grandstanding when he tweeted support for protesters that according to Washington were trying “to take back their corrupt government” and promising “great support from the United States at the appropriate time.” That said, Khamenei has called the protests – which were initially about economic hardships but soon turned political – “playing with fireworks”, but also added that Iranian citizens had a right to air legitimate concerns, a rare concession by a leader who usually voices clear support for harsh security crackdowns.

Iranian media reported that the regime managed to extinguish the unrest across Iran that spread to more than 80 cities, in which at least 22 people died, and thousands of others have been incarcerated, since late December. Information, however, obtained by TV7 indicates that in some parts of the Islamic Republic, Iranians continue to rally in protest of the regime.