Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls protesters ‘vandals’ and ‘saboteurs’ and blames the US for instigating the unrestIran’s supreme leader vowed on Friday that authorities would “not back down” in the face of growing protests, blaming the US for instigating the demonstrations that started over economic conditions and have since expanded to calls for political reform.In his first speech since the protests started 13 days ago, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signalled that a greater crackdown was coming. He described protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs”, and accused them of working on behalf of foreign agendas. Continue reading...