Iran Supreme Leader Thanks Campus Protesters

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Facts

• Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed support for the Pro-Palestinian protests happening on US college campuses, telling protestors they are 'on the right side of history.'¹
• In his letter posted to X on Thursday, Khamenei told American college students they 'have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government's ruthless pressure — a government which openly supports the usurper and brutal Zionist regime.'²
• For several weeks, students on college campuses across the US, and internationally, have protested the Israel-Hamas war, demanding that their schools divest from businesses linked to Israel and calling for a cease-fire.³
• Khamenei's letter comes two months after a United Nations Human Rights Council report found that high-level state authorities in Iran, including Khamenei, 'encouraged, sanctioned and endorsed violations of human rights' following the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests.⁴
• US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) reacted to the letter by posting, 'When you've won the Ayatollah, you've lost America' on X.⁵
• More than 1K college students on more than 25 campuses in the US have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests since mid-April.⁴

Sources: ¹Daily Mail, ²X.com, ³Newsweek, ⁴New York Post and ⁵USA Today.

Narratives

• Conservative narrative, as provided by Iran International. This makes it abundantly clear that violent, disruptive, pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses are dangerous and anti-American. Khamenei is desperate to spread his influence in the West and likely sees these protests as an opportunity to turn these radical liberal protestors into another Iranian proxy group. This should be seen as a wake-up call, not a compliment.
• Progressive narrative, as provided by Newsweek. The questionable moral standing of the source doesn't make Khamenei's claims any less truthful. Israel is arguably carrying out a genocide in Gaza, and the US and other Western countries have been complicit in the brutal murders of tens of thousands of civilians. The focus should be on the horrible results of US policies and the suffering of Palestinians rather than this letter.

Predictions