TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that Iran must listen to protesters behind a recent wave of unrest, hinting that it risked another revolution if their demands are ignored, reports AFP.

In a speech marking the 39th anniversary of the uprising, Rouhani also warned foreign powers that Iran’s people would “forever safeguard the Islamic republic”.

“As long as people love the culture of Islam and love their Iran and safeguard their national unity, no superpower can change the path of this nation,” he said, taking a jab at the United States.

But he said that popular support was at risk if his fellow elites did not listen to protests that have swept the country in recent weeks, and heed the lessons of the 1979 revolution that toppled shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

“All officials of the country should have a listening ear for people’s demands and wishes,” Rouhani said at the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in southern Tehran.

“The previous regime thought monarchical rule would last forever, but it lost everything for this very reason—that it did not hear the criticism of the people,” he added, flanked by Khomeini’s grandson, Hassan Khomeini, a prominent reformist. Days of angry protests hit dozens of towns and cities over the new year, leaving at least 25 people dead and hundreds in detention.