Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday compared demonstrators to ISIS and accusing Washington and Israel of orchestrating what he repeatedly called “sedition.”

Writing in English on X, Khamenei claimed protesters “burned people alive” and “beheaded people,” asserting they committed “the very same atrocities that Islamic State committed.” He framed violence as the defining feature of the unrest and linked to a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing Trump of “creating ISIS” and encouraging protesters to “keep going.”

Khamenei said the demonstrations were planned and managed abroad, alleging that the CIA and Mossad “deployed all of their resources into the field.” The protest movement’s “ringleaders,” he claimed, were trained by the “U.S. and Zionists” to carry out “engineered killings.” When Iranian officials say the unrest was orchestrated by the United States, he added, “it isn’t merely a claim.”

The supreme leader argued the unrest would persist until the “Iranian nation reaches a point where the enemy is left hopeless,” insisting Iran “will reach that point.” He praised security forces — including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij — saying they fulfilled their duties, while “the people themselves trampled the fire of sedition into ashes.”

Khamenei also portrayed the protests as an existential threat to governance, accusing demonstrators of attacking police, IRGC bases, government institutions and banks. “When security is gone, nothing is left,” he wrote, warning that instability would halt production, education and scientific progress.

The remarks come as protests entered their 37th day, according to activists tracking the crackdown. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said as of Sunday night it had confirmed 6,842 deaths linked to the unrest, including 6,425 protesters. HRANA reported that 146 of those killed were under the age of 18, with an additional 11,280 cases still under review.

HRANA also flagged discrepancies in official figures released by President Masoud Pezeshkian’s office, which published a list naming 2,986 people killed — lower than a previously cited figure of 3,117. The group said the official list contained errors, including misspellings, duplicate entries and incomplete data.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)