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Iran’s supreme leader breaks silence on protests

While Iranian officials acknowledge economic grievances of protesters, they meanwhile claim foreigners are provoking unrest.
Iranian students protest at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems, in the capital Tehran on December 30, 2017.
Students protested in a third day of demonstrations, videos on social media showed, but were outnumbered by counter-demonstrators.  / AFP PHOTO / STR        (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

As Iran experiences the sixth day of nationwide protests, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the ongoing unrest. During his weekly meeting Jan. 2 with the families of those killed in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Khamenei said that enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran are using the protests to strike a blow against the government.

“In the events of the last few days, enemies of Iran with various tools at their disposal, such as money, arms, politics and security apparatuses, have allied to create problems for the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei said. As for the cause of the protests, Khamenei noted, “I have some things to say about these matters, and I will speak to the people about them.”

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