Protesters were "ruining their own streets" to please President Donald Trump, who has threatened intervention, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday.

Supreme leader warns against foreign enemies and reiterates threat that authorities will crack down on the unrest.

Anti-Americanism has united Iran and Venezuela in a tight alliance for more than two decades. As recently as 2022, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed Maduro to Tehran, praising the Venezuelan strongman’s “resistance” against America and his “anti-Zionist positions,

Anti-government protests erupted in Tehran on Thursday, as Iranians angered by a flailing economy and crackdowns by security forces marched through the streets of the capital and shouted slogans against the ruling theocratic regime.

Demonstrations broke out in Iran on Dec. 28 and have spread nationwide as protesters vent their increasing discontent over the Islamic Republic’s faltering economy and the collapse of its currency.

Turkish Airlines cancels its five Friday flights to the Iranian capital Tehran, which has been rocked by anti-government protests against the rising cost of living, according to the Istanbul Airport app. Five other flights operated by Iranian airlines are also canceled, according to the airport app, while seven others remain scheduled.

Khamenei has now also lost an alliance first forged with Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, who christened it the Axis of Unity. A former Iranian official quipped on X that Iran had to accept Hezbollah’s disarmament next: Donald Trump’s “new order is not that hard to understand!