Iran protests enter day nine as judiciary chief warns of 'no leniency'

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As protests continued across Iran for a ninth day, the foreign ministry on Monday accused the United States and Israel of interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and encouraging violence through their public statements.

Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said statements by some American and Israeli officials amounted to interference in Iran’s internal affairs and incitement to violence under international norms and rejected what he described as foreign efforts to present themselves as supportive of the Iranian public.

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Shops were closed in the port city of Bandar Ganaveh in southern Iran as part of what a resident described as a nationwide strike, according to a video received by Iran International.

The video, sent on Monday, showed shuttered businesses across the city, with the resident saying all shopkeepers had joined the strike.

Iran’s Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday authorities should not show leniency toward people involved in unrest, calling for firm action to protect public security.

“We should not remain silent in the face of those who seek to exploit the situation and disrupt the security and calm of the people,” he said. “There can be no tolerance toward rioters. This time there will be no leniency,” he added, referring to what he said was open support for protesters by Israel and the United States.

Mohseni Ejei said prosecutors across the country should pursue those detained over unrest, including people accused of assisting protesters, with the help of security and intelligence forces. He also called for the identification and action against what he described as main organizers, saying some may not appear on the streets.

Iranian competition climber Elnaz Rekabi voiced support for nationwide protests in the country by sharing the names of people killed during the unrest in an Instagram story and describing them as “the children of Iran.”

Rekabi drew global attention in 2022 after she competed without a headscarf at the Asian Championships in Seoul following protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

After returning to Iran, Rekabi faced pressure from authorities, was kept under tight security for a period and saw her family villa in Zanjan demolished by state bodies. She later left Iran and now lives and continues her career in Canada.

Gila Gamliel, Israel’s minister of innovation, science and technology, said there was no need to fuel public anxiety over a possible confrontation between Israel and Iran, saying authorities would have sufficient warning if tensions escalated.

“False presentations create unnecessary public stress,” Gamliel told the Ynet news website. “When things happen, we receive sufficient warning time.”

A group of protesters chanted “Death to the principle of velayat-e faghih,” a reference to Iran’s system of clerical rule, during a rally in the Haft Hoz area of Tehran on Sunday night, according to a video received by Iran International.

Haft Hoz is a neighborhood in eastern Tehran.

A group of protesters lit fires in the street and chanted “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, My Life for Iran” during a rally in Asgharabad, a town in Isfahan province, on Sunday night, according to video received by Iran International.

Iranians living in the US state of Arizona held a gathering in solidarity with nationwide protests in Iran, according to videos received Iran International.

Protesters chanted “Ey Iran,” a well-known patriotic song, during a rally in the city of Sari in northern Iran on Sunday night, according to a video received by Iran International. Sari is the capital of Iran’s Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea coast.