Supreme leader blames US and Israel for Iran unrest
International Desk
Iran's supreme leader has blamed the US and Israel for the anti-government protests sweeping the country, in his first public comments on the unrest.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "riots" had been "engineered" by Iran's arch-enemies and their allies, and alleged that Qurans had been burned.
He also called on security forces to be ready to deal with further unrest.
The protests - the biggest challenge to his rule for a decade - were sparked by the death in custody of a woman.
Mahsa Amini, 22, fell into a coma hours after being detained by morality police on 13 September in Tehran for allegedly breaking the strict law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf. She died three days later.
Addressing a graduation ceremony of police and armed forces cadets on Monday, the supreme leader said Ms Amini's death "broke our hearts".
"But what is not normal is that some people, without proof or an investigation, have made the streets dangerous, burned the Quran, removed hijabs from veiled women and set fire to mosques and cars," he added, without mentioning any specific incidents.
The ayatollah, who has the final say on all state matters, asserted that foreign powers had planned "rioting" because they could not tolerate Iran "attaining strength in all spheres".
"I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by America and the occupying, false Zionist regime [Israel], as well as their paid agents, with the help of some traitorous Iranians abroad."
