As protests grow, Iranian leader urges Iraqis, Lebanese to work within law

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urges Iraqis and Lebanese to seek their demands within the framework of the law after waves of protests rocked the two countries.

“The people of Iraq and Lebanon have some demands that are rightful, but they should know these demands can only be realized within the legal frameworks,” he says in remarks aired on state television.

“The enemy wants to disrupt the legal framework. When in a country there is no legal framework and a vacuum is created, no positive action can be taken,” he adds.

Khamenei accuses the United States and its allies of being behind the unrest.

The Americans and Western intelligence services “backed by the money of some reactionary countries in the region are causing turmoil… to destroy security,” he says.

“I seize this opportunity to tell those who care about Iraq and Lebanon to remedy insecurity as their priority,” Khamenei says, without elaborating.

“The biggest damage that enemies can inflict on a country is to deprive that country of security.”

Tehran has close but complicated relations with Baghdad, holding significant clout among its dominant Shiite political groups.

In Lebanon, the Islamic Republic is the main patron of Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite terror group that has ministers in the outgoing government.

— AFP