JAKARTA - Iran's supreme leader has given its full support to security forces to deal with protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death in detention, comments that could mark tougher measures to quell unrest more than two weeks since he died.
In her first speech discussing the death of the 22-year-old woman, after being arrested for wearing inappropriate clothes, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Amini's death "dept. breaks my heart" and calls it a "difficult incident" provoked by Iran's enemies.
"The task of our security forces, including the police, is to ensure the safety of the Iranian nation. Those who attack the police make Iranians powerless against thugs, robbers, and extortioners," Khamenei said.
Security forces, including police and volunteers of the Basij militia, have led a crackdown on the protests, with thousands arrested and hundreds injured, according to human rights groups, which said the death toll was more than 130.
Iranian authorities have reported many members of the security forces were killed during the unrest, which has escalated to the biggest opposition show against the Iranian government in years, with many calling for an end to more than four decades of ulama rule.
Khamenei said security forces had faced "un just" during the protests.
"In recent incidents, above all security forces including the police and Basij, as well as the Iranian people, were harmed," he said.
"Some people have caused insecurity in the streets," Khamenei said, condemning what he called a planned "devaction", accusing the United States and Israel, the arch-foe of the Islamic Republic, of regulating the disruption.
It is known, Amini, whose funeral in Kurdi Saqez City on September 17 sparked riots that quickly spread throughout Iran, died after being detained by Iranian morality police in the capital Tehran, for "inappropriate use".
The protests have not subsided despite the increasing death toll and increasingly violent action by security forces using tear gas, batons and, in some cases, according to videos on social media and rights groups, live ammunition.
Protests continued throughout Iran on Monday, with students strike after security forces clashed with students at a leading university in Tehran on Sunday. Dozens of students were arrested and many injured according to social media posts and videos.
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