Iran's Khamenei says recent anti-government protests akin to 'coup'

Khamenei labels recent protests in Iran as a coup attempt, warning of potential future unrest and U.S. intervention.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday (February 1, 2026) that recent anti-government protests that saw killings and vandalism were akin to "a coup".

"They [rioters] attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Koran. It was like a coup," Mr. Khamenei said, adding that "the coup was suppressed".

"Just as the recent sedition was not the first sedition in Tehran, it will not be the last sedition, and such incidents may be repeated in the future," he added.

The authorities' response to the protests prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily, deploying an aircraft carrier group to Middle Eastern waters.

The U.S. had carried out strikes on nuclear facilities in June during its ally Israel's 12-day war against Iran, before quickly moving to declare a ceasefire. Mr. Khamenei on Sunday (February 1, 2026) warned: "The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war."

He was speaking on the 47th anniversary of the return from exile of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic in 1979, toppling the U.S.-backed Pahlavi dynasty. Mr. Khamenei accused the US of wanting to "swallow Iran" and return to the days of the monarchy.