Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that no one should dare think the Islamic Republic can be uprooted. It was his toughest warning to protesters since Mahsa Amini's death in police custody ignited nationwide unrest now in its fourth week.
Demonstrations by people from all walks of life, after the Iranian Kurdish woman's death following her arrest for "inappropriate attire," have evolved into widespread calls for the downfall of Khamenei and "death to the Islamic Republic."
The protests constitute one of the boldest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 revolution, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.
Khamenei compared the Islamic Republic to an unshakable tree.
"That seedling is a mighty tree now, and no one should dare think they can uproot it," he said in remarks shown on state TV.
Some of the deadliest unrest has been in areas home to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances against the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.
Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls.
Amnesty International said at least 23 children have died.
Police deployed heavily on Friday in the city of Dezful, a witness said, after activists called for protests in the predominantly ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border.
Social media videos showed protesters chanting, “Death to the dictator,” in Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan. Basij volunteer militia forces leading the crackdown on motorbikes are seen pushing people back.
'We are Kurdistan'
"There are dozens of Basijis. Pushing protesters, beating them. Men, women are chanting, 'We are Kurdistan, We are Lorestan,' " a witness said, slogans that are meant to show solidarity among Iran's ethnic minorities.
There was also a heavy deployment of police and the Basij in the main squares of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province at the border with Pakistan in the southeast, two witnesses said.
The activist 1500tasvir posted a video on Twitter purportedly showing protesters marching in Zahedan. "Crimes, crimes, death to this religious leadership," they chanted, referring to Khamenei, who has been in power for 33 years.
Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of conspiring against the Islamic Republic. The authorities deny security forces have killed protesters. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed.
Deaths rise
Zahedan was the scene of one of the deadliest days yet on September 30 when Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown after prayers.
The authorities said Baluchi militants attacked a police station that day, triggering a shootout. The Revolutionary Guards said five members of their forces and the Basij were killed.
Iran, with a population of 87 million, is home to seven major ethnic minorities alongside majority Persians. Rights groups say minorities, including Kurds and Arabs, have long faced discrimination, which Iran denies.
A Revolutionary Guards major and a Basij militiaman were shot dead by what Iran state TV reported called rioters early on Friday in southern Fars province. A news agency said the two were shot after confronting "two rioters" writing graffiti.
In the southwestern oil city of Abadan, some protesters were chanting, "Death to the dictator," amid heavy presence of Basij and riot police on Friday, another witness said.
Security forces have also pressed their crackdown this week in Kurdish regions where the Revolutionary Guards have a track record of putting down dissent.
Iran's Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread among several regional states whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Along the Iranian-Iraqi border in southwest Iran is a population of about 3 million ethnic Arabs, predominantly Shiite Muslims. Some groups, emboldened by Iraqi Arabs across the border, have pressed for greater autonomy in recent years.
Questioning from adviser
While many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Khamenei was cited this week as questioning whether police should be enforcing hijab-wearing — rare criticism of state efforts to impose the hijab.
Amini's death and the crackdown have drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western powers, prompting new sanctions on Iranian officials and adding to tensions at a time when talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal are at a standstill.
State television showed pro-government rallies in Tehran for the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
And a state-affiliated Islamic body called on Iranians to chant Islam's rallying cry of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) after dark on Saturday. Many protesters have chanted anti-government slogans from their windows and roofs at night.
