The first comments by 86-year-old Khamenei on Saturday come as violence surrounding the demonstrations over Iran’s ailing economy has killed at least 10 people.

The protests show no sign of stopping and come as United States President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Friday that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters”, Washington “will come to their rescue”. While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, especially in the wake of a huge US military attack on Venezuela and the purported capture of its President Nicolas Maduro, his comments led to an immediate, angry response from Iranian officials.

Iran’s United Nations Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani has written to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council, urging them to condemn “unlawful threats” towards Tehran from Trump. Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has said that US interference “is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests”.

The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, as authorities demanded.

Speaking to an audience in Tehran, state television aired remarks by Khamenei that sought to separate the concerns of protesting Iranians, upset about the rial’s collapse, from “rioters”. “We talk to protesters, the officials must talk to them,” Khamenei said. “But there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place”. He reiterated a claim constantly made by officials in Iran, that foreign powers like Israel or the US were pushing the protests, without offering any evidence. He also blamed “the enemy” for Iran’s collapsing rial. (Aljazeera)