Iran’s leader calls Donald Trump a ‘criminal’ for backing protests
Iran’s Supreme Leader has branded US President Donald Trump a “criminal” for supporting protesters in Iran and blamed demonstrators for causing thousands of deaths.
In a speech broadcast on state television on Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “several thousand” people had died in the protests; This is the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of casualties in the wave of protests that began on December 28 and led to a bloody crackdown.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters related to the state, said, “In this rebellion, the US president personally made statements, encouraged the seditionists to take action and said, ‘We support you, we support you militarily.'”
He repeated the accusation that the United States is trying to dominate Iran’s economic and political resources.
A man holds a poster of Iran’s Supreme Leader at a funeral for a group of security forces killed during protests in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP)
(Vahid Salemi)
“We consider the US president a criminal because of the accusations against the Iranian people, the losses and damage caused,” he said.
He described the protesters as “foot soldiers” of the United States and said they were destroying mosques and educational centers. “They harmed people and killed thousands of people,” he said.
His comments came a day after Mr. Trump struck a conciliatory tone, saying “Iran has canceled the executions of over 800 people,” adding, “I have great respect for the fact that they have canceled it.”
He did not say who he spoke to in Iran to confirm the status of the planned executions. His comments were a sign that he might back down from a military offensive.
In recent days, Trump has said “help is on the way” for protesting Iranians and that his administration will “act accordingly” if the killings of demonstrators continue or if Iranian authorities execute detained protesters.
In his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the rebels were armed with live ammunition imported from abroad, without naming any country.
“We are not making plans, we are not dragging the country into war. But we are not releasing local criminals, there are international criminals who are worse than local criminals. We are not leaving them alone either,” he said, calling on the authorities to follow up the cases.
Reza Pahlavi calls on protesters to take to the streets again (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
(Mark Schiefelbein)
Iran has returned to an uneasy calm after the harsh suppression of protests that began on December 28 over its struggling economy.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, the crackdown has led to the deaths of at least 3,090 people; This number exceeds the number of other protests and unrest in Iran over the decades and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.
The agency has provided accurate information throughout the years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists who have verified all reported deaths in Iran. The AP could not independently verify the toll.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the United States and Israel of inciting unrest in the country. On Friday, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of intervening in the unrest in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While there have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to normal, Iranian state media did not include any new news of unrest.
During the turmoil, authorities blocked all internet access on January 8. Witnesses said text messaging and very limited internet services briefly resumed working in some parts of Iran on Saturday.
Cell phone text messages began working overnight, while users were able to access local websites via local internet service. Some also reported limited access to international internet services through virtual private network use.
A call by Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for protesters to take to the streets again from Saturday to Monday appeared to have gone unheeded on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Pahlavi, whose father was ousted by Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, enjoys the support of die-hard monarchists in the diaspora but has struggled to gain wider appeal within Iran.
However, this did not prevent him from presenting himself as the interim leader of Iran in case the government falls.
