THERAN: The ancestral home of Islamic republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was set ablaze by protesters in western Iran, according to reports on social media on Friday.

The late ayatollah's birthplace in the western province of Khomein in Markazi was captured on video as crowds marched past and cheered late on Thursday. The house was on fire.

The house, which had been converted into a museum, was still open, according to the state-run semi-official Tasnim news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Although they were unable to provide an exact date when it was shot, both Reuters and the French news agency AFP confirmed the authenticity of the video. It is not yet known how much damage was done to the house due to the fire.

Journalist and author David Patriarkos, who wrote a book about Iran's nuclear aspirations, retweeted pictures of the fire and wrote that it represented an "attack" that challenges the "essence of the republic itself" on his Twitter account.

Remarkable: Protestors in Iran torched the ancestral home (now a museum) of Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the 1979 revolution, in the town of Khomein. pic.twitter.com/ikWMVVfzfM

— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) November 18, 2022

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was born in the house. His last name Khomeini derives from the city. He was an outspoken critic of Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was in power at the time and was supported by the United States while living in exile in Paris in the 1970s.

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In 1979, Khomeini returned to lead the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Iran has been facing nationwide protests since 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini died on September 16 while being held by police. Amini was detained by Iran's morality police a few days ago for allegedly not wearing a hijab to cover her hair completely.

Iran's Islamist government has long required women to cover their hair in public to comply with a strict dress code.

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The demonstrations against Amini's assassination quickly expanded into more general demands for independence and a new government by many Iranians. Images and other representations of Khomeini have been defaced or destroyed by protesters during the demonstrations.