Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday that authorities “must break the back of the seditionists”, whom he accused of killing thousands during the wave of protests that were brutally repressed in the country.
The demonstrations were sparked by anger over economic hardship that exploded into the biggest protests against the Islamic republic in more than three years.
But demonstrations have subsided after the crackdown that rights groups say left thousands of people dead under an internet blackout that has lasted more than a week.
Schools were set to resume Sunday, the ISNA news agency said, following a one-week closure, with postponed university exams set to be held in a week.
Authorities have said demonstrations they condemn as “riots” had been controlled and calm returned, with state-aligned media reporting thousands of arrests.
“By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition,” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told supporters during a televised address.
“We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals,” he added, saying “international criminals” were “worse”.
He added that “agents… murdered a few thousand people. They murdered some with the utmost inhumanity, meaning pure savagery” — seemingly his first admission that thousands had died.
Iranian authorities have blamed the latest wave of demonstrations on arch-foes the United States and Israel, saying they fuelled a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful protests over the economy.
Trump, who backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed.
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