Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls protesters ‘vandals’ and ‘saboteurs’ and blames US for instigating the unrest

Iran’s supreme leader has vowed that authorities will not back down in the face of a rapidly growing protest movement, setting the stage for an intensified violent crackdown as demonstrations and a nationwide internet shutdown continued on Friday.

Protests have raged in cities and towns across the country in recent days, posing a threat to the authority of the regime, which has been significantly weakened since the last large protest movement in the country in 2022.