On the anniversary of the 1978 historic uprising of the people of Qom against the oppressive Pahlavi regime, thousands of people from Qom Province met with Ayatollah Khamenei at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah of Tehran on Friday, January 9.

In remarks at the meeting, the Leader said a series of vandals destroyed the buildings of their own country in Tehran and the other cities on Thursday night in order to appease the US president.

Unable to run his own country or deal with various incidents in the US, the American president has threatened that he will side with the rioters and harmful people in Iran if the Iranian administration takes certain measures, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“The US president has the blood of more than 1,000 Iranians on his hands,” the Leader said, adding that Donald Trump has confessed that he had ordered attacks during the 12-day war in June 2025 that claimed the lives of over 1,000 Iranians, including military commanders, scientists and ordinary people.

The Leader lashed out at a bunch of unaware people that have been deceived by the US president and have set the garbage cans ablaze to please Trump.

Ayatollah Khamenei made it clear that the Islamic Republic, which has come into being with the sacrifices made by several hundreds of thousands of noble people, will never back off in the face of vandals or tolerate mercenary attitudes towards outsiders.

When a person becomes a mercenary and serves the outsiders, that person will be rejected by the Islamic nation and establishment, the Leader stated.

Ayatollah Khamenei also called on the youth of Iran to preserve preparedness, unity and presence in the scene, stressing that a unified and integrated nation will overcome all enemies.

In recent weeks, Iran has witnessed protests in several cities following the depreciation of the national currency and a sharp rise in inflation, which have put growing pressure on household livelihoods.

The increase in prices of essential goods and basic commodities has fueled dissatisfaction, prompting the administration to adopt measures aimed at easing economic strain, including raising subsidies for the purchase of basic necessities.

Meanwhile, the enemies have tried to take advantage of the situation and foment violent riots in Iran.