Theocrats

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that the country's economic problems were the result of internal mismanagement by the government and not just US pressure.

A top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on July 13 that Iran would immediately withdraw its "military advisers" from Syria and Iraq only if their governments wanted it to.

Iran bans teaching English in primary schools after Iranian High Commissioner Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said early learning of this language created conditions for a Western "cultural invasion," Reuters reported.

Germany is "following developments in Iran with concern" but "stresses that protesters deserve respect."

Tanjug reported this on Wednesday, citing Reuters.

Pro-government demonstrators staged rallies across the country Wednesday, after days of protests against the government and economic problems.

Iranian state television showed video of crowds waving Iranian flags and chanting in support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s Supreme Leader on Jan. 2 accused “enemies” of the Islamic Republic of stirring unrest across the country as a crackdown intensified against anti-government demonstrations that began last week.

Ten people were killed during street protests in Iran on Sunday, state television said on Monday, Reuters reported. 

The nationwide protests have drawn in tens of thousands of people and represent the boldest challenge to Iran's leadership since pro-reform unrest in 2009. Calls for more demonstrations on Monday raise the possibility of prolonged instability.

Two people have died in the city of Dorud in western Iran during the protests yesterday, the governor of the province of Lorestan said, quoted by world news agencies. But in his words, protesters were not shot by security forces who were not shooting at demonstrators, but from "foreign agents".

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has claimed Washington is lying about fighting terrorism in the Middle East, saying US activity has instead given rise to Islamic State. Tehran's foreign minister says the US has not honored the nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Feb. 10 that those using "threatening language" against Tehran would regret it as the regime faces increasingly hawkish rhetoric from the new U.S. administration.

Rouhani was speaking at a march attended by hundreds of thousands of people in the capital marking the 38th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.