Iran protests - as it happened: Supreme leader accuses foreign powers of ‘sabotage’, as US applauds ‘courage’ of protesters

Largest demonstrations to strike Iran since 2009 cause six days of unrest across country and death toll of at least 20

Protesters in Iran overturn vehicles and spread fires in anti-government action

Iran's Supreme Leader has blamed country-wide protests on "enemies of Iran" as the death toll from anti-government demonstrations rose to 22.

The demonstrations, the largest to strike Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, have brought six days of unrest across the country.

Around 450 protesters have been arrested in the capital Tehran over the last three days, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.

The agency quoted Ali Asghar Nasserbakht, a security deputy governor of Tehran, who said 200 protesters were arrested on Saturday, 150 on Sunday and 100 were arrested Monday.

Offering his first comments since the protests began, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the "enemies of Iran" of meddling in the country's affairs.

"In the recent days' incidents, enemies of Iran utilized various means — including money, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatuses — to create problems for the Islamic system," he said.

The protests began on Thursday in Mashhad over Iran's weak economy and a jump in food prices and have expanded to several cities, with some protesters chanting against the government and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The protests have put pressure on the clerical leaders in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

President Hassan Rouhani has acknowledged the public's anger over the Islamic Republic's flagging economy, though he and others warned that the government wouldn't hesitate to crack down on those it considers lawbreakers.

All the protest rallies so far haven't received prior permission from the Interior Ministry, making them illegal under Iranian law.

In comments posted to his official website, Mr Khamenei appeared to blame foreign nations for at least exacerbating the unrest gripping Iran.

"In the recent days' incidents, enemies of Iran utilised various means — including money, weapon, politics and intelligence apparatuses — to create problems for the Islamic system," he said.

The head of Tehran's Revolutionary Court also reportedly warned that arrested protesters could potentially face death penalty cases when they come to trial.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Mousa Ghazanfarabadi as saying: "Obviously one of their charges can be Moharebeh," or waging war against God, a death penalty offence in Iran.

Donald Trump supported the protesters in a tweet: "The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!"

Later in the day, he tweeted to say "the people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime".

"All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their 'pockets,"' Mr Trump wrote, apparently referring to the nuclear deal reached under his predecessor. "The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The US is watching!"

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, urged the US President to stop tweeting and focus on his own country's problems.

"It is better for him to try to address the US' internal issues like the murder of scores killed on a daily basis in the United States during armed clashes and shootings, as well as millions of the homeless and hungry people in the country," Mr Ghasemi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The protests began over Iran's economy, which has improved since the nuclear deal that saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the end of some international sanctions. Tehran now sells its oil on the global market and has signed deals to purchase tens of billions of dollars' worth of Western aircraft.

However, the improvement has not reached the average Iranian.

Unemployment remains high, and official inflation has crept up to 10 per cent again. A recent increase in egg and poultry prices by as much as 40 per cent, which the government has blamed on a cull over avian flu fears, appears to have been the spark for the economic protests.

Key Points

• 6.55pm:   US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley commends "great courage" of Iranian people
• 5.45pm:   Trump administration calls on Iran to stop blocking Instagram and other social media sites
• 12.24pm: Donald Trump claims cash given by Barack Obama to Iran funded terrorism and corruption
• 11.41am: Britain calls on Iran to engage in meaningful debate about issues raised by protesters
• 10.29am: Supreme Leader accuses enemies of Islamic Republic of stirring unrest
• 9.29am: Protesters could face death penalty trials, top judge warns
• 8.57am: Nine people killed overnight in clashes between protesters and police
• 8.42am: Police arrest 450 in three days of protests in Tehran

[2 January 2018 22:17 · Jon di Paolo]

The country leading the UN Security Council says a US-requested emergency meeting on Iran is under discussion, but not yet scheduled. 

Ambassador Kairat Umarov of Kazakhstan said Tuesday that it's not yet clear what the council will decide about adding Iran to its agenda. His nation holds the council's rotating presidency this month. 

Earlier, US Ambassador Nikki Haley called for both the Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council to hold emergency sessions soon on Iran in light of the outbreak of protests there. She hailed the demonstrators as courageous and said that "the UN must speak" about them. 

The demonstrations were sparked by economic grievances, but some protesters have chanted against the government and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

[2 January 2018 22:36 · Tom Batchelor]

That is the end of our live coverage of the developing situation in Iran this evening. Thanks for reading.