Video posted online also showed a clash between protesters and police in the city of Khoramdareh in Zanjan province in the country’s northwest. Giving his first public reaction to the protests, President Hassan Rouhani said Iranians had the right to protest and criticize the authorities. Social Media / Reuters Protests in Tehran and other cities around the country have put a spotlight on Iran. The protests are the biggest since unrest in 2009 that followed the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Videos showed protesters in central Tehran chanting “Down with the dictator!,” in an apparent reference to Khamenei.

Source: Huffington Post December 31, 2017 14:15 UTC