Raisi warns Iran protesters on eve of Mahsa Amini’s arrest anniversary

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a stark warning to anyone thinking about protesting the country’s theocratic regime on the eve of the one-year-anniversary of the arrest of Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody sparked demonstrations across Iran. 

Raisi, a protege of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blamed the West for last fall’s uprising, which was triggered after Amini, an aspiring 22-year-old lawyer, was arrested on Sept 13, 2022, and allegedly beaten to death three days later by Iran’s morality police for not properly wearing her hijab. 

“[T]hose who intend to abuse Mahsa Amini’s name, under this pretext to be an agent of foreigners, to create this instability in the country, we know what will happen to them,” said Raisi, during an interview with “NBC Nightly News” host Lester Holt on Tuesday.

“And they know that endangering the security of people and security of society will create a big cost.”

Raisi downplayed Amini’s death, calling it an “incident,” and denounced the protests for women’s freedom, which led to the deaths of nearly 500 demonstrators, as “a project against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” 

“The same incidents happen every day in the US and in the European cities. The Islamic Republic of Iran responded swiftly and followed the issue,” said Raisi. 

“But I would like to mention the fact that there were some countries, as some European countries and the US, were making use of this incident as a project against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was a hybrid war and a cognitive war. It was a political war. It was an economic war, a media war, and a psychological war against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added. 

Tehran has prepared for a possible flare up of protests by setting up snap checkpoints, disrupting internet access and purging universities of professors that have been supportive of demonstrators, according to the Associated Press. 

The somber anniversary of Amini’s arrest and death will come on the same week the Biden administration announced that it has unfrozen $6 billion in Iranian assets as part of a broader agreement to secure the release of five American detainees.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who signed the sanctions waiver last week to pave the way for the deal, stressed the funds could only be used for humanitarian purposes.

“Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs, so this money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government,” Raisi said, when asked by Holt how the windfall will be used.