 "Iran protests: Nobel laureate warns of 'massacre' as Ayatollah says regime won't back down")
As the anti-government protests continue to escalate in Iran, the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that his regime would not back down in the face of the mass demonstrations. People of Iran have been protesting since December 28 as the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis and a collapsing currency.
In light of this, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi warned that authorities in Tehran may carry out a mass killing under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout. She urged the West to speak out on the matter immediately. “Tonight, I am compelled to speak with urgency," she said in a statement released on Friday. “There are credible indications that the Islamic Republic may attempt to turn this night into a massacre, under cover of a sweeping communications blackout.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, Khamenei also released a formal statement, condemning the latest escalation in the protests. He described the protesters as “vandals,” who are eager to impress the United States. “Last night in Tehran, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed a building that belonged to them so that they could please the president of America,” he said in a televised address, without specifying which building.
Khamenei slammed Trump
He went on to mock US President Donald Trump's pledge to intervene if the Iranian regime kills demonstrators. The Iranian supreme leader maintained that he would do better to pay attention to problems in the United States. “The Islamic Republic will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei’s remarks came as Iranians got hit by an internet and phone service blockade. Amid the chaos, several major airlines in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar cancelled flights to cities in Iran on Friday.
On Thursday, Iranians took to the streets in large numbers in their latest act of defiance as protests over the country’s ailing economy quickly grew into a more fundamental challenge to the clerical system over which Khamenei presides.
Nobel laureate warns of ‘massacre’
While warning about a massacre, Ebadi maintained that the protesters have been peaceful in their demonstrations. “Iranians have come into the streets peacefully. They have been met with gunfire,” she added. “A blackout is not a technical failure in Iran; it is a tactic.”
She went on to address the Western government and the international institutions, insisting that silence would amount to permission, calling for immediate public pressure to halt live fire against civilians, protect hospitals and restore communications.
Quick Reads
View AllIt is pertinent to note that at least 51 people have been killed in the protests, including nine children, according to figures released on Friday by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organisation, as authorities imposed a total internet blackout. However, the official death toll is still not recorded.
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