The sister of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly penned a letter condemning her brother’s “despotic caliphate” while calling on the Revolutionary Guards to “lay down their arms”.
The comments by Badri Hosseini Khamenei, who lives in Iran, were shared by his son in France on Twitter, according to Reuters. The comments come as the Middle Eastern country continues to be roiled by protests following the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody.
“I think it is now appropriate to declare that I oppose my brother’s actions and express my solidarity with all the mothers who mourn the crimes of the Islamic Republic, from the time of Khomeini to the current era of Ali Khamenei’s despotic caliphate.” Badri said. Hosseini Khamenei said in the letter, referencing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian regime.
“The Revolutionary Guards and Ali Khamenei’s mercenaries must lay down their arms as soon as possible and join the people before it is too late,” the letter added.
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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a televised New Year’s address, in Tehran, Iran, on March 21, 2022. A portrait of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini is shown on the right.
(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Iran has been rocked by unrest since the death on September 16 of Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for not covering his head in public.
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County leaders are also grappling with a three-day general strike move that began Monday.
Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the moral police, in Tehran on October 27, 2022.
(AP Images/Middle East, File)
In posts circulating on social media, protesters called for businesses to close and called on people to stop using banks. The level of participation was unclear, but in Tehran’s northern neighborhoods, most shops were closed Tuesday afternoon and there was a heavy security presence, according to The Associated Press.
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On Monday, the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, ordered the arrest of anyone who encouraged the strike or tried to intimidate shops into closing. According to Tasnim, authorities in the southern city of Shiraz have closed a pharmacy after it reportedly refused to sell items to patients on Monday.
Iranians protest the death of Amini, in Tehran on October 1, 2022.
(The Associated Press)
The unrest that followed Amini’s death became one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian regime in decades, spreading across the country and showing little sign of slowing down despite attempts by police to suppress the demonstrations.
Michael Lee of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
