Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called U.S. President Donald Trump a “criminal” for supporting protests in Iran and blamed him for thousands of casualties.
In a speech broadcast by state television, Khamenei said the protests had left "several thousand" people dead - the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began Dec. 28 and led to a bloody crackdown.
"In this revolt, the U.S. president made remarks in person, encouraged seditious people to go ahead and said: 'We do support you, we do support you militarily,'" said Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters. He reiterated an accusation that the U.S. seeks domination over Iran's economic and political resources.
"We do consider the U.S. president a criminal, because of casualties and damages, because of accusations against the Iranian nation," he said. He described the protesters as "foot soldiers" of the United States and said they had destroyed mosques and educational centers. "Through hurting people, they killed several thousand of them," he said.
His comments come a day after Trump sounded a conciliatory tone, saying that "Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people," and adding that "I greatly respect the fact that they canceled."
