UPDATE 1-Videos showing Iranian crackdown on protesters go viral as anger grows
DUBAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Videos on social media showing Iranian security forces severely beating protesters have gone viral as anger grows at a widening crackdown with arrests of prominent figures from rappers to economists and lawyers aimed at ending seven weeks of unrest.
Protests ignited by the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 after her arrest for inappropriate attire have shaken Iran's clerical establishment with people from all layers of society demanding wholesale political change.
The nationwide demonstrations which have called for the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are posing one of the boldest challenges to Iran's rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Amini case and the crackdown on the protests that followed her death drew international condemnation for Iran's rulers.
Iranian leaders, meanwhile, have blamed the crisis on the United States and other Western powers, a narrative few Iranians believe.
Khamenei said on Wednesday that U.S. officials who support protests are "shameless", state media reported.
"Those who think the U.S. is an untouchable power are wrong," Khamenei said. "It is completely vulnerable as seen with current events."
Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Saleh Jokar said Iranians living abroad who are provoking "riots" at home should have their citizenships revoked.