Iranians block a road and gather during a protest in Kermanshah, Iran, January 8, 2026.
Kamran | AFP | Getty Images
Iran’s supreme leader on Friday accused anti-government protesters of being “vandals” destroying public property on behalf of US President Donald Trump.
Ali Khamenei warned on state television that the Iranian government will not tolerate “mercenaries for foreigners,” Reuters reported.
“The Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. We will not back down in the face of the destroyer,” Khamenei said.
His comments came as the country of 92 million people found itself largely cut off from the rest of the world on Friday, with authorities attempting to quell widespread protests by shutting down the internet.
The demonstrations, which began in Tehran’s bazaar on December 28, were spurred by growing dissatisfaction with the government’s response to the long-running economic crisis, particularly the plummeting national currency and soaring prices.
The scale of the violence was one of the largest demonstrations in recent years, with dozens of people killed and nearly 2,300 arrested or detained, according to Human Rights Defenders News Agency (HRANA). HRANA, a U.S.-registered nonprofit organization, relies on a network of activists inside Iran for reporting.
Iranian leader Ali Khamenei commented on the recent protests against the economic situation on Iranian state television in the capital Tehran on January 9, 2026.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
The protests also reignited concerns about possible American intervention. President Trump said last week that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States would “come to their rescue.”
“We are locked, loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on January 2nd.
Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, reportedly responded at the time by saying that US intervention in Iranian protests amounted to chaos across the region.
Iran, a member of OPEC, is a major player in the global oil market.
Oil prices last rose as energy market participants continued to monitor concerns over the unrest in Iran.
international benchmark brent On Friday, crude oil futures due in March rose 0.9% to $62.52 a barrel. west texas intermediate Futures expiring in February were at $58.29, up 0.9% during the session.
—CNBC’s April Roach and Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
