Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in comments responding to violent protests sweeping the nation for a fourth week, compared the Islamic Republic on Friday to a seedling that had grown into "a mighty tree" that could not be destroyed.
"That seedling is a mighty tree now and no one should dare think they can uproot it," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Gareth Jones)