Khamenei Slams ‘Vandals’ as Iran Rocked by Protests

Short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital Tehran and other areas.

State TV claimed the protests saw violence that caused casualties but did not elaborate. It also said the protests saw “people’s private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire.

The son of the shah of Iran ousted by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, U.S-based Reza Pahlavi, who had called for major protests on Jan. 8, meanwhile urged a new show of force in the streets on Jan. 9.

Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a brief address aired by state television, signaled authorities would crack down on demonstrators as an audience shouted: “Death to America!”

Protesters are “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” Khamenei said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump. 

He insisted that the Islamic Republic would "not back down" in the face of protesters who he called "vandals" and "saboteurs.”

Khamenei said Trump's hands "are stained with the blood of more than 1,000 Iranians" and predicted the "arrogant" U.S. leader would be "overthrown" like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.

So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained.

Internet monitor Netblocks said authorities had imposed a total connectivity blackout late on Jan. 8 and added early Jan. 9 that the country has "now been offline for 12 hours... in an attempt to suppress sweeping protests.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines on Jan. 9 cancelled its several flights from Istanbul to Iran, five of them to the capital Tehran.

The other flights were bound for Tabriz and for Mashad.