Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi lashed out at the United States and its allies on Tuesday, accusing them of fomenting anti-government protests that have been underway in Iran for over three months.
Iran has been shaken by mass protests since mid-September over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died after being detained by the country’s morality police.
The protests rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy, established after the 1979 revolution, marking one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian clerical rule in over four decades.
At least 507 protesters have been killed and more than 18,500 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have not released figures for those killed or arrested.
Speaking at a funeral ceremony for 400 soldiers killed in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Raisi said efforts by the enemies of the nation — a reference to the US and its allies — have sought to “pressure Iran during the recent protests” but have met with failure.
Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on their foreign adversaries, including the US and Israel.
“In recent riots, the arrogance (of the US and its allies) was displayed in all its strength,” said Raisi, but “all pressures against the republic were doomed to fail.”
Earlier in December, Iran executed two prisoners, both 23 years old and charged in connection with the mass protests. The first was Mohsen Shekari, accused by an Iranian court of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete.
The second was Majidreza Rahnavard, whose body was left hanging from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others. Authorities alleged Rahnavard had stabbed two members of its paramilitary force. The executions prompted international outcry. Reportedly, dozens of others remain on the list for executions.
Tuesday's funerals come just days ahead of the third anniversary of the Iranian military’s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board — a tragedy that ignited an outburst of unrest across Iran and further damaged its relations with the West.
