TEHRAN — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic had emerged victorious in the course of the ongoing unrest that has gripped his country since mid-September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody. 

"The Islamic Republic proved that it is strong," he declared during a key address broadcast live by state television from a holy shrine in the conservative city of Mashhad on Tuesday. The speech marked the start of national holidays for the new Iranian year, known as Nowruz. 

He described the public protests as "riots" and a "global conspiracy" plotted by Iran's enemies. "The president of a country like America entered the scene," he said, accusing the United States and some European states of fueling the unrest with financial and military support and saying that "a very small number of Iranians took part."  

The Islamic Republic's security forces have killed at least 530 protesters nationwide in the course of the unrest, according to the Human Rights News Activists News Agency, which monitors political developments in Iran. Iranian authorities have also admitted to have detained over 22,000 people in the crackdown.  

At the turn of the new Iranian year on the first hour of March 21 local time, many residents in large cities including the capital Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Shiraz and Rahst chanted "death to Khamenei" from rooftops or behind windows and renewed calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. 

Source: Al Monitor