Khamenei: Iran will not back down in the face of protests and Trump will fall
In a new escalation of the official rhetoric in Tehran, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei affirmed that the Islamic Republic "will not back down" one iota in the face of what he described as "saboteurs" and "rioters," amid the widening scope of popular protests that the country has been witnessing for two weeks, which have affected several Iranian cities and provinces.
A scathing attack on the US administration
In his second public appearance since the recent protests erupted, Khamenei launched a sharp and direct attack on US President Donald Trump. In his televised address, the Iranian Supreme Leader stated that the US president's hands were "stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians," a clear and implicit reference to the military tensions and casualties during the clashes, which the speech described as "a war waged by Israel against Iran in June" with the support and backing of the United States.
Historical comparison and the fall of regimes
In his speech, Khamenei invoked recent Iranian history, likening US President Donald Trump to those he called "arrogant" and asserting that his fate would be inevitable "downfall." The Supreme Leader drew a parallel between the current US administration and the monarchies that ruled Iran for centuries, noting that those Western-backed regimes crumbled before the will of the Islamic Revolution, which triumphed in 1979—a message aimed at bolstering domestic support and emphasizing the resilience of the current regime.
Context of regional and international tensions
These statements come at a time of unprecedented geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East. Relations between Tehran and Washington are at their lowest point in decades, particularly after the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement and imposed a policy of "maximum pressure" and crippling economic sanctions that have directly impacted the Iranian economy and the livelihoods of its citizens. Observers believe that Khamenei's linking of internal protests to foreign interference is a traditional strategy employed by Tehran to divert attention from internal economic and social crises toward an "external enemy.".
The significance of the timing and the importance of the event
This speech is particularly significant given its sensitive timing; Iran is facing dual pressures: pressure from a popular uprising demanding economic and political reforms, and pressure from the international community regarding its nuclear program and regional influence. Khamenei's emphasis on "no retreat" sends a clear message, both domestically and internationally, that the regime is prepared to use all available means to maintain its stability, and that, according to the official Iranian perspective, relying on popular pressure or external sanctions to change the regime's behavior will be futile.
These developments indicate the possibility of an escalation in the pace of confrontation in the coming days, whether in terms of security measures to deal with protests at home, or through indirect political and military skirmishes with the United States and its allies in the region, which puts the entire region in front of open and complex scenarios.
