Ayatollah Blames US, Israel, ‘Treasonous Iranians Abroad’ For Protests Roiling Iran

In his first appearance and public statement in weeks, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday blamed 17 days of protests on the United States, Israel, and Iranian traitors, saying the death in custody of a young woman accused of breaching the regime’s mandatory hijab rules had merely been a pretext.