{"id":45004,"date":"2026-01-09T13:01:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=45004"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:01:40","slug":"khamenei-accuses-rioters-warns-against-mercenaries-amid-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=45004","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei Accuses &#8216;Rioters,&#8217; Warns Against &#8216;Mercenaries&#8217; Amid Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iran&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has issued a stern warning to what he described as &#8220;rioters&#8221; allegedly seeking to destabilize the nation and appease the United States, as protests continue across Iran. These demonstrations, ostensibly triggered by economic grievances, have evolved into expressions of broader discontent.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei stated that these individuals are &#8220;destroying their own streets to please the president of another country.&#8221; He further asserted that Iran would not tolerate &#8220;mercenaries working for foreign powers,&#8221; suggesting external influence is fueling the unrest.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Leader also accused the United States of having &#8220;hands stained with the blood of thousands of Iranians,&#8221; referencing a past conflict. He urged the American president to focus on domestic issues within the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei called upon the Iranian people to &#8220;maintain unity and consolidate all ranks in order to overcome the enemies.&#8221; His remarks come as state media has acknowledged the protests, reporting casualties and alleging that &#8220;terrorist agents&#8221; linked to the U.S. and Israel are responsible for inciting violence and arson.<\/p>\n<p>Reports indicate that the government has imposed internet and international phone call disruptions, a move condemned by internet monitoring groups. These groups claim the restrictions severely impede communication and access to information during a critical period.<\/p>\n<p>The situation remains tense, with ongoing reports of clashes and arrests. The government&#8217;s response to the protests is under scrutiny, both domestically and internationally, as concerns mount over human rights and freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<p><em>DZWatch is closely monitoring the unfolding events in Iran and will continue to provide updates as they become available.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is a developing story.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?cat=1\">More Algeria articles on DZWatch<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\">DZWatch &#8211; Your News Portal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has issued a stern warning to what he described as &#8220;rioters&#8221; allegedly seeking to destabilize the nation and appease the United States, as protests continue across Iran. These demonstrations, ostensibly triggered by economic grievances, have evolved into express&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-algeria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45006,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45004\/revisions\/45006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}