Khamenei Warns against Attempts to 'Uproot' Ruling Regime in Iran

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
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Khamenei Warns against Attempts to 'Uproot' Ruling Regime in Iran

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Friday that no one should dare think they can uproot the ruling regime, in his toughest warning to protesters since Mahsa Amini's death in police custody ignited nationwide unrest now in its fourth week.

Demonstrations by people from all walks of life, after the Iranian Kurdish woman's death following her arrest for "inappropriate attire", have evolved into widespread calls for the downfall of Khamenei.

The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 revolution, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.

Khamenei compared the republic to an unshakeable tree. "That seedling is a mighty tree now and no one should dare think they can uproot it," he said in remarks shown on state TV.

Some of the deadliest unrest has been in areas home to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances against the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.

Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls.

Amnesty International said at least 23 children have died.

Police deployed heavily on Friday in the city of Dezful, a witness said, after activists called for protests in the predominantly ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border.

There was heavy deployment too of police and the Basij - a volunteer militia leading the crackdown - in the main squares of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province at the border with Pakistan in the southeast, two witnesses said.

Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of conspiring against the country and denying security forces have killed protesters. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed.

Deaths mount

Zahedan was the scene of one of the deadliest days yet on Sept. 30 when Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown after prayers.

The authorities said Baluchi militants attacked a police station that day, triggering a shootout. The Revolutionary Guards said five members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed.

Iran, with a population of 87 million, is home to seven ethnic minorities alongside majority Persians. Rights groups say minorities, including Kurds and Arabs, have long faced discrimination. Iran denies this.

A Revolutionary Guards major and a Basij militiaman were shot dead by "rioters" early on Friday in southern Fars province, state TV reported. A news agency said the two were shot after confronting "two rioters" writing graffiti.

Social media users reacted angrily to a video apparently showing a member of the riot police molesting a female protester in Tehran. Reuters could not verify the footage.

Ensiyeh Khazali, vice president for women’s affairs, called for a probe, state media said. Police said they would deal with anyone found accountable of a violation.

In the southwestern oil city of Abadan, some protesters were chanting "Death to the dictator" amid heavy presence of Basij and riot police on Friday, another witness said.

Security forces have also pressed their crackdown this week in Kurdish regions where the Revolutionary Guards have a track record of putting down dissent.

Iran's Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread between several regional states whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq, Syria and Türkiye.

While many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Khamenei was cited this week as questioning whether police should be enforcing headscarf-wearing - rare criticism of state efforts to impose the hijab.

Amini's death and the crackdown have drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western powers, prompting new sanctions on Iranian officials and adding to tensions at a time when talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are at a standstill.



Rescuers Search for 19 Missing, Recover 9 Bodies after Nepal Flooding

Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
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Rescuers Search for 19 Missing, Recover 9 Bodies after Nepal Flooding

Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu

Dozens of rescuers searched the banks of a mountain river Wednesday looking for people missing after monsoon floods swept away Nepal's main bridge connecting to the country to China and caused at least nine deaths.

Police said dozens of rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join the rescue efforts. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Security forces have rescued 55 people, including four Indians and a Chinese person so far, according to the Rasuwa District Administration Office.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, along with top ministers and officials, flew to the area, The Associated Press reported. Oli called an emergency meeting Tuesday night and instructed all security forces and government offices to assist the rescue and recovery efforts.

The flooding on the Bhotekoshi River early Tuesday destroyed the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadi, which is 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu. Several houses and trucks that were parked at the border for customs inspections also were swept away. Hundreds of electric vehicles imported from China had been parked at the border point.

The 19 missing are 13 Nepali citizens and six Chinese nationals, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The Chinese and eight of the Nepalis were workers at a Chinese-assisted construction project on the Nepali side of the border, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, quoted by state media.

The destruction of the bridge has halted all trade from China to Nepal through this route. The longer alternative is for goods to be shipped from China to India and then brought overland to Nepal.