Students March in Mahsa Amini's Hometown Despite Crackdown.

Students march and chant in protest in the streets of Saqez city in Iran's Kurdistan province, hometown of Mahsa Amini, October 4.

A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since 22-year-old Amini died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly failing to observe the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded publicly on Monday to the biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called "rioting" and accuse the United States and Israel of planning the protests.

The unrest, ignited by the death of the young woman in the custody of Iran's morality police, is flaring up across the country for a third week despite government efforts to crack down.

On Monday, Iran shuttered its top technology university following an hours-long standoff between students and the police that turned the prestigious institution into the latest flashpoint of protests and ended with hundreds of young people arrested.

The demonstrations have tapped a deep well of grievances in Iran, including the country's social restrictions, political repression and ailing economy strangled by American sanctions. The unrest has continued in Tehran and far-flung provinces even as authorities have disrupted internet access and blocked social media apps.

READ MORE HERE: www.voanews.com/a/iran-s-supreme-leader-breaks-silence-on-protests-blames-us-/6774304.html

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