police stations and military bases on the protests prompted a response from the country's president hasan rouhani who acknowledged the public's anger over the country's economic problems. in notes that. one point must become clear to everyone that we are a free nation according to the constitution and people are absolutely free to criticize or even to protest however we should also be mindful that criticizing and protesting should be done in such a way that will improve the country situation. but others in the government were less diplomatic. hammy afro do you get that in all those who join the protests in recent days and those who provoked it behind the scenes their relations and connections those who misuse cyberspace and spread violence are absolutely known to us and we will definitely confront them in due time has money. u.s. president donald trump used twitter to show his support for the demonstrators and to warn the iranian government against human rights abuses he also said that it was time for change but rouhani cast doubt on trump's sincerity in all you kim ruse that this guy in america

hasan rouhani the president of iran is serving his second term he competes with the hardline factions of supreme leader a common a that dominate the security apparatus and judiciary. rouhani was expected to bring change but he has so far failed to deliver on his campaign promises of greater civil and political rights. iran went from a monarchy to an islamic republic after the revolution of one nine hundred seventy nine now the country is run by an authoritarian regime without real checks and balances. iranian citizens can participate in elections and register as candidates to do so they have to undergo a vetting process by the guardian council this powerful body ensures that political candidates and legislation match the criteria of islam and the constitution in last year's election only six out of one thousand six hundred applicants were accepted. the last major protests took place in two thousand and nine following a presidential election that opposition politicians say was tainted by fraud dozens of people were killed during what became known as the green revolution. one of the los

in recent days, the country's elected president, hasan rouhani, has sought to downplay the protests andsaying they were instigated via iran's enemies. translation: our victories against the us and the zionist regime are unbearable for our enemies. our success in the region is intolerable for them. they are out for revenge and trying to provoke people. so far, his words have done little to stem the protest. there have been large counterdemonstrations organised in support of the country's leadership. but as the protests enter a sixth day, the message from many iranians is that they want change. john donnison, bbc news. with me is bbc persian service's rana rahimpour. let us get the latest. the protest seem very widespread, there have been protests before in iran, but these are in a number of different towns and cities. that is the difficulties the iranians security officers have. before it was concentrated in tehran and major cities and it was more easy to contain them. we are receiving reports of scattered protests, smaller in size, all over the country and little towns and cities. at le

they blame hasan rouhani, who was elected to change these circumstances there.ou're seeing really surprise from inside iran at just how extensive these are and a real question now, wolf, about where these lead to. how long they last and what degree of a threat they may pose to this regime. >> jim, thanks very much. back to the congressman. do you support the president's approach to talking about these protests as bluntly as he is? >> absolutely not. first of all, if you look at the tweet, the president's more interested in making sure he get to slam president obama than it is to actually try and aid the protesters. if you want to aid the protestors, you wouldn't block any of them from try trooi tog become refugees because there's going to be a lot of refugees coming from iran after this. but if you look at trump's doctrine, no iranian would be allowed to get any type of status here in this country. so number one. number two, the last thing you want to do is aid these p protesters is to give an excuse for the mullahs and government in iran to use us basically as

president has made his first speech since a widespread protests began in the islamic republic hasan rouhani says that the downloads must provide space to question them but also that protesters that violence was unacceptable demonstrations have been rallying against economic hardships and alleged corruption. israel's governing likud party has passed a draft resolution urging the party's leaders to establish israeli sovereignty and formally annex parts of the occupied. westbank the village was not on fire. well top security measures are in place around times square for new york's annual new year's eve celebrations opportunity and people are expected to watch the famous board drop at midnight kristen salumi has been finding out what the police are doing to keep people say. it's called the crossroads of the world attracting visitors from near and far to ring in the new year but this year more than ever times square is in the crosshairs. the new york police department has seen an increase eisel inspired attacks three in the last sixteen months eight people have been killed most of them tourists

but in recent days, the country's elected president, hasan rouhani, has sought to downplay the protests saying they were instigated by iran's enemies. translation: our victory against the us and the zionist regime are unbearable for our enemies. our success in the region is intolerable for them. they're after revenge and they're trying to provoke people. so far, his words have done little to stem the protest. there have been large counterdemonstrations organised in support of the country's leadership. but as the protests enter a sixth day, the message from many iranians is they want change. john donnison, bbc news. with me is bbc persian service's rana rahimpour. let's analyse what is going on. we have heard from the supreme leader for the first time since these protests started. and as usual, he blamed the enemies. he said they have united against islamic establishment. they are using money, weapons, intelligent and politics to cause trouble for us... that is the excerpt of what we have received from a weekly meeting, so he didn't feel it was significant enough to have an address to th