From Reuters: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday blamed President Donald Trump for weeks of protests after rights groups said a violent crackdown by security forces had claimed thousands of lives.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including promising to “take very strong action” if Iran executed protesters.
On Friday Trump thanked Tehran’s leaders for calling off mass hangings, while Iran claimed there was “no plan to hang people.”
In comments reported by state media that appeared to respond to Trump, Khamenei said, “We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished.”
“We consider the US president a criminal for the casualties, damages, and the slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei also said, Iran International reported. “Trump himself intervened in this unrest, made statements, encouraged the rioters, and said we will provide military support.”
Iran’s clerical establishment blames armed rioters, labeled as “terrorists,” for the violence in nationwide protests, attributing the unrest to Israel and the U.S., whom they say organized it.
Read more at Reuters
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