'Khamenei Says Protests Legitimate, Warns of Foreign Hand'

 Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has delivered a calibrated response to the country’s most serious bout of economic unrest in years, acknowledging the legitimacy of merchants’ grievances while framing the broader instability as the product of foreign manipulation. Speaking in Tehran on Saturday, Khamenei sought to separate what he described as justified protest from what he labeled deliberate efforts to turn economic pressure into political disorder.

His remarks come as Iran experiences widespread demonstrations driven by the rapid depreciation of the rial, which has fallen beyond 1,350,000 to the US dollar. The protests, now spanning multiple cities and sectors, mark the most sustained economic unrest since earlier nationwide demonstrations and underscore the strain on household incomes and commercial activity.

“They Are Telling the Truth”

Khamenei placed particular emphasis on the role of shopkeepers and bazaar merchants, historically a core constituency of the Islamic Republic. He described them as “among the most loyal segments of the country to the Islamic system” and acknowledged that their inability to plan or price goods amid currency instability has crippled daily commerce.

“When a bazaar merchant looks at the country’s monetary situation, the decline in the value of the national currency and the instability of currency prices … he says ‘I can’t do business.’ He is telling the truth,” Khamenei said, explicitly validating the economic basis of the protests. He added that demonstrations rooted in such grievances are “a valid one,” distinguishing them from what authorities define as violent disorder.

Enemy Hand and Escalation Control

At the same time, Khamenei framed the speed and volatility of the currency collapse as “not natural,” attributing it to hostile external forces. “This is the work of the enemy,” he said, arguing that foreign actors were exploiting economic pressure to generate insecurity and provoke broader unrest. He warned that “a group of provoked, mercenary agents of the enemy” were attempting to push protests beyond economic demands into slogans targeting Islam, Iran, and the political system itself.

The supreme leader stressed that protest and rioting are not equivalent, saying officials should engage with demonstrators but confront those seeking chaos. “Protests are different from rioting,” he said, adding that individuals acting to make the country insecure were crossing an unacceptable line.

Government Response Under Pressure

Khamenei said senior officials across Iran’s political system, including the president and heads of other branches, were working to stabilize the situation through “various measures.” The government has already held several rounds of talks with representatives of shopkeepers, particularly in Tehran, where demonstrations have taken on a sharper tone.

The unrest has not been without violence. Reports indicate several deaths in recent weeks, including protesters and police officers, highlighting the risk of escalation as economic pressure collides with political tension. The protests have unfolded against a backdrop of heightened international scrutiny, amplified by comments from US President Donald Trump, who said on Friday that Washington would “come to the rescue” of protesters if lethal force were used. That remark triggered immediate backlash from senior Iranian officials.

Khamenei’s intervention reflects a familiar strategy: absorb economic discontent, reinforce political boundaries, and attribute instability to external interference. Whether that balance can be maintained as the rial continues to slide remains an open question for Iran’s leadership.

https://clashreport.com/world/articles/khamenei-says-protests-legitimate-warns-of-foreign-hand-qt6u3gois4