Ayatollah Khamenei at Friday Prayers in Iran

In his first public response to days of protests, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly warned Iranians to stay off the streets and denied opposition claims that the disputed presidential election was rigged, praising the ballot as an “epic moment that became a historic moment.” He also called directly for an end to the protests by hundreds of thousands of Iranians demanding a new election, saying opposition leaders would be “held responsible for chaos” if they did not end the protests. close