BEIRUT, December 7. /TASS/. Badri Hosseini Khamenei, the sister of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei, condemned the authorities' repression against protesters continuing in the country since mid-September.

In a letter transmitted from Tehran, the excerpts from which her son Mahmud Moradhani posted on Twitter on Wednesday, she said that she supported the anti-government protests.

"Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Iran's elite Armed Forces - TASS) should lay down their arms as soon as possible and take the demonstrators’ side before it is too late," Khamenei's sister pointed out, "I hope the Iranian people will win and overthrow this despotic regime."

On November 28, Iranian authorities arrested Farideh Muradhani, the niece of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, after she called on foreign governments to sever ties with Tehran.

Farideh and Mahmoud Muradhani are the children of cleric and opposition figure Ali Tehrani, who was married to Badri Hosseini Khamenei. According to CNN, Tehrani died in October.

A wave of protests broke out in Iran on September 17 after the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. According to the official version, police detained Amini for an improperly worn hijab. When questioned, she had a heart attack, which resulted in her death. Rallies and marches erupted across 157 cities and towns within two and a half months. Demonstrators called for democratic change, condemned the repression by the authorities, and demanded the release of those arrested.