In his first statement since the outbreak of the widespread protests, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest as "riots", and likewise tried to cast it as a foreign plot.[1] He also said: "I say explicitly that these riots and this insecurity were a design by the US and the occupying, fake Zionist regime [i.e. Israel] and those who are paid by them, and some traitorous Iranians abroad helped them".[20] He argued that the plot was devised by Iran's enemies as "they feel that the country is progressing towards full-scale power and they can't tolerate this".[20] Khamenei also stated that the burning of Qurans, taking hijabs off of covered women and burning mosques amongst others are "not normal, natural reaction[s]".[20] Regarding tensions in the Kurdish and Baluch regions of Iran, he said: "I have lived among ethnic Baluchis and they are deeply loyal to the Islamic Republic", and "The ethnic Kurds are also among one of the most advanced groups in Iran who love their homeland, Islam and the establishment".[20] The clerical leadership of Iran tries to cast the protests as having secessionist objectives and it being a foreign plot.[20][2]