Khamenei on Protests and Addressing Trump: It Will Not Go Unanswered

The leader of the Islamic Republic, on Tuesday, January 9, in a speech to a group from Qom, referred to the recent gatherings as "fireworks," "mischief," and "the enemy's counterattack." He accused the countries of the United States, Britain, and Israel of organizing these gatherings, claiming that the funding for these protests came from a "wealthy government" in the region. Ayatollah Khamenei also threatened those he referred to as "enemies," stating, "In these past few days, you have caused damage to Iran; this will not go unpunished." In his remarks directed at the President of the United States, he said, "This person, who according to Americans lacks mental stability, should know that these theatrical acts of madness will not go unanswered." Khamenei's reference could allude to a book titled "Fire and Fury" and a report previously published in the U.S. accusing Donald Trump of "lack of mental health." In response, Donald Trump rejected this accusation, stating that he is "a stable genius." According to ISNA news agency, Khamenei accused the U.S. and Israel of plotting protests in small towns in Iran for months, stating, "Let’s start from small towns and move towards the center." He claimed that the funding for these actions came from one of the "wealthy governments around the Persian Gulf." Khamenei added, "As long as they are around, the Americans will not be willing to spend money." The leader of the Islamic Republic did not provide further details about the "wealthy government," but other officials have previously accused Saudi Arabia of being involved in the protests in Iran. Khamenei also stated, "The actions the enemy has taken against us over these forty years are counterattacks of the revolution. The revolution has politically uprooted the enemy in the country; now the enemy constantly counterattacks and fails each time; it acts but cannot advance its agenda." He addressed the U.S., Britain, and what he called "the Londoners," saying, "This time you could not, and you will not be able to." Last week, Khamenei briefly accused countries he referred to as "enemies of Iran" of having "allied together" to create problems for the Islamic Republic. Khamenei claimed that two command centers had been established in neighboring countries to organize these protests and operations. He added, "One of these command centers was for directing operations in cyberspace, and the second was for managing the disturbances, both commanded by Americans and Zionists who believed their victory was certain." Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Council, stated on Saturday, January 6, that a few months ago, the head of a special CIA operations desk in Erbil, Iraq, met with the office head of Saddam's son and a representative from Saudi Arabia, the Barzani family, and the Mojahedin to plan these events. He mentioned that they set the operation date for late December to start their work using cyberspace and aimed to finish the regime by February, naming the project "successful convergence strategy." The next day, Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, called these statements "comedic." Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, along with Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and other officials, have accused Israel, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia of instigating the recent gatherings in Iran. This comes as Mike Pompeo, the head of the CIA, rejected the Iranian Attorney General's claims about the agency's involvement in street protests in Iran, stating that Iranians have broken away from the Islamic Republic regime. Israel has also denied involvement in the protests, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing Rouhani's accusations as "lies and ridiculous." The accusation of foreign interference in the recent gatherings and protests has been raised by Iranian officials, while 16 reformist political activists issued a joint statement on January 6, calling the claim of foreign intervention "an insult" to the people. According to various websites and news agencies, they emphasized that "focusing on foreign factors leads to neglecting or ignoring the roots of protests and dissatisfaction and addressing them." Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament, tweeted on Sunday that "according to intelligence officials, there has been no foreign involvement in the recent unrest so far." In another part of his speech, the leader of the Islamic Republic called for a "distinction between the demands" he described as "honest and rightful of the people" and what he termed "the violent and destructive actions of a group." He added, "That... now a hundred, five hundred people gather somewhere and express their views is one thing, and that a group misuses this gathering to insult the Quran, insult Islam, disrespect the flag, burn mosques, destroy, and set fire is another matter. These should not be mixed together." Ayatollah Khamenei, referring to past gatherings about economic issues, stated that the voices of the protesters should be "heard" and "answered to the extent of our ability." He added, "All of us, I do not say we should follow, I myself am responsible, we all must pursue it." Khamenei's remarks come as Iranian President Rouhani described limiting the demands of protesters in recent gatherings to economic issues as "an insult to the people," stating that the people's demands are economic, cultural, social, and security-related and "all these demands must be addressed." Rouhani also referred to a group of recent protesters who, according to him, "insulted the sacred values of the revolution and destroyed public property" as "a minority and a small group" that does not represent the people and stated that the Iranian nation will "properly deal with them." According to statistics reported by Iranian television, 25 protesters have been killed in the recent gatherings. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, also reported that 3,700 people have been arrested in these protests.