Tens of thousands of people held pro-government rallies across Iran on Wednesday, with some shouting “Death to American mercenaries” in an apparent move by the country’s ruling mullahs to blunt days of unrest that have led to the deaths of 21 people.
State television broadcast images of demonstrators gathering in dozens of cities and towns ā including Qom, the religious capitaź§l of Shiite Islam ā carrying signs and Iranian flags.
They shouted their support for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who the day before blamed the protests on outside agitators. āThe blood in our veins is a gift to our leader” and āWe will not leave our leader aloneā were among the chants.
Singling out the United States, Israel and Britain for instigating the anti-government demonstrations that began last Thursday over food prices but quickly grew to protest corruption and the clerical leadership, the marchers demanded: āThe seditionist rioters should beź¦ executed!ā
State media said the pro-government rallies were needed to “protest the violence that has taken place over the last few nights in cities.”
The remarks echoed those made by Khamenei.
āAll those who are at odds with the Islamic Republic have utilized various means, incšluding money, weapons, politics and (the) intelligence apparatus, to create problems for the Islamic system, the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution, ā he said.
The anti-government protests, the most expansive unrest to hit the country since a disputed presidential election in 2009, have resulted in hundreds of arrests and the government blocking popular social meādia sites like Instagram and Telegram to limit the spread of inį¦formatšion about the demonstrations.
The Trump administration has shown support for the protesters, calling for restoring the blocked sites, and has continued to reach out to Iranians on the State Department’s various internet platforms.
President Trump must decš„ide by mid-January whether to recertify a nuclear pact negotiated by former President Barack Obama and otąµ²her world leaders with Iran.
Trump, who during the presidential campaign referred to the pact as the “worst deal ever,” could dump the agreement and reimpose sanctions squeezing the country economically.
The commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards used the sanctions threat to deride š¼the US support for the protesters.
āIf the Americansā sympathy with Iranians were real, they would hą²ave not imposed cruel sanctions on our nation, ā said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari.
With Post wires