On 26 November 1979 Shariatmadari denounced the occupation of the US embassy in Tehran. He also criticized Khomeini's system of government as not being compatible with Islam or representing the will of the Iranian people. He severely criticized the way that a referendum was conducted to establish Khomeini's system of government. This led Khomeini to put him under house arrest, imprison his family members and torture his daughters-in-law. This led to mass protests in Tabriz which were quashed toward the end of January 1980, when under the orders of Khomeini tanks and the army moved into the city. Shariatmadari, not wanting an internal civil war or armed fighting and unnecessary killing of fellow Shiites, ordered a stop to the protests.