For the first time since protests swept the country nearly two weeks ago, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has addressed the topic.

Speaking Monday at an police graduation ceremony and addressing Iran's top military brass, Khamenei called the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being apprehended by the country's morality police, “heartbreaking.”

Yet Khamenei condemned the reactions to her death, saying that streets “were made unsafe, Qurans were burned, women were forcibly unveiled, mosques, hosseiniehs and cars were burned.” He said that such reactions were “not normal,” especially since the investigation into her death has not yet been concluded. 

Khamenei referred to the demonstrations as “riots” and said, “I plainly state that these protests and unrest are designed by the United States and the fake tyrannical Zionist regime and their mercenaries and those traitor Iranians outside of the country who help them.” He claimed that if Amini had not died, the United States and Israel would have found other excuses to create unrest in Iran.