What is the story about?
Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said that they are ready to hear people who are protesting if they have concerns but warned that rioters
shouldn’t be allowed to disrupt the country. During an interaction with State TV, Masoud Pezeshkian said, “If people have a concern, we will hear them. It is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is to not allow rioters to come and disrupt society.” "The people should not allow rioters to disrupt society. The people should believe that the government wants to establish justice,” he said.
This is the first time when the Iranian President has spoken out and conveyed his message to the protesters while Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called them ‘Enemy of God’ and blamed the United States for backing these protests and vowing ‘Death to America’.
What Iranians Are Protesting
Demonstrations broke out in Iran on December 28 and have spread nationwide as protesters vent their increasing discontent over the Islamic Republic's faltering economy and the collapse of its currency.
Dozens of people have been killed and thousands arrested as the daily protests have grown and the government seeks to contain them.
ALSO READ | Iran's Protest Deaths Top 500 as US Mulls Military Strikes: 'Shot in the Eyes... Massacre Unfolding'
While the initial focus had been on issues like spikes in the prices of food staples and the country's staggering annual inflation rate, protesters have now begun chanting anti-government statements as well.
Protests broke out in two major markets in downtown Tehran after the Iranian rial plunged to 1.42 million to the US dollar, a new record low, compounding inflationary pressure and pushing up the prices of food and other daily necessities.
The government had raised prices for nationally subsidised gasoline in early December, increasing discontent.
As protests spread to include more cities as well as several university campuses, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with a group of business leaders to listen to their demands and pledged his administration will “not spare any effort for solving problems” with the economy.
Donald Trump Threatens Action if Protesters Are Violently Killed
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, raising the stakes, wrote on his Truth Social platform that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”
The warning, only months after American forces bombed Iranian nuclear sites, includes the assertion, without elaboration, that: “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.” Protests, meanwhile, expanded to reach more than 100 locations in 22 of Iran's 31 provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Rioters Will Be Put To Place, Warns Khamenei
Khamenei said “rioters must be put in their place,” in what is seen as a green light for security forces to begin more aggressively putting down the demonstrations.
Protests have expanded to more than 170 locations in 25 provinces, with over 500 killed and more than 10,000 detained, according to HRANA reports.
ALSO READ | Iran Says US, Israel ‘Will Be Our Legitimate Targets’ in Bold Warning After Trump Threat
Iran's Exiled Crown Prince Backs Protesters
Following a call from Iran's exiled crown prince, a mass of people shouted from their windows and took to the streets in an overnight protest. The government responded by blocking the internet and international telephone calls, in a bid to cut off the country of 85 million from outside influence.
The protests reached the two-week mark as the death toll reached crossed 500, HRANA said.
Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
With inputs from AP
