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.



Russia's Lavrov, US' Rubio Meet in Kuala Lumpur

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
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Russia's Lavrov, US' Rubio Meet in Kuala Lumpur

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R) on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the US State Department and Russia's foreign ministry said. 

It would be the second in-person meeting between Rubio and Lavrov, and comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war in Ukraine drags on. 

The first meeting between the top diplomats took place in Saudi Arabia in February as part of the Trump administration's effort to re-establish bilateral relations and help negotiate an end to the war. 

"I can confirm: such a meeting is being worked out," TASS state news agency cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Thursday. 

Trump, who returned to power this year promising a swift end to the war that began in 2022, had taken a more conciliatory tone toward Moscow in a departure from predecessor Joe Biden's staunch support for Kyiv. 

But on Tuesday, a day after Trump approved sending US defensive weapons to Ukraine, he aimed unusually direct criticism at Putin, saying the Kremlin leader's statements on moving towards peace were "meaningless". 

Trump has also said he was considering supporting a bill that would impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500% tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. 

When asked on Wednesday about Trump's criticism of Putin, the Kremlin said Moscow was "calm" regarding the criticism and that it would continue to try to fix a "broken" US-Russia relationship. 

At a conference of Ukraine-friendly nations in Rome on Wednesday, Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Kyiv described as a "substantive" conversation. 

Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones early on Wednesday, the latest attack in a series of escalating air assaults in recent weeks that have involved hundreds of drones in addition to ballistic missiles, straining Ukrainian air defenses at a perilous moment in the war. 

In his first visit to Asia since taking office, Rubio is in Kuala Lumpur to meet with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with senior Malaysian government officials. 

The trip is part of an effort to renew US focus on the Indo-Pacific and look beyond the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration's attention, with Rubio balancing dual responsibilities as secretary of state and national security adviser.