DUBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday blamed United States President Donald Trump for weeks of demonstrations that, according to human rights groups, caused more than 3,000 deaths.
“We consider the US president a criminal for the deaths, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said, according to the country’s state media.
Protests erupted on December 28 due to economic hardship and turned into widespread demonstrations calling for an end to clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.
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Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including threatening ‘very strong action’ if Iran executes protesters.
But on Friday, in a social media post, he thanked Tehran’s leaders, saying they had canceled the hangings. Iran said there was ‘no plan to hang people’.
In comments that appeared to respond to Trump, Khamenei said: ‘We will not drag the country into war, but we will not allow national or international criminals to go unpunished,’ state media reported.
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Khamenei said ‘several thousand deaths’ occurred during the nationwide protests, which are Iran’s worst unrest in years. He accused the US and Israel, Iran’s long-time enemies, of organizing the violence.
“Those linked to Israel and the US have caused massive damage and killed several thousand people,” he said.
