Iran’s president tries to assuage anger as protests continue

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses parliament (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has appealed for national unity and tried to allay anger against the country’s rulers, even as anti-government protests that have engulfed the country for weeks continue to spread to universities and high schools.

Mr Raisi acknowledged that the Islamic Republic has “weaknesses and shortcomings”, but repeated the official line that the unrest sparked last month by the death of a young woman in the custody of the country’s morality police was nothing short of a plot by Iran’s enemies.