Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that U.S., Israeli and European leaders exploited Iran’s economic hardships to stir recent protests and provided people with the means to "tear the nation apart".
The two-week long nationwide protests, which began in late December over an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and rising living costs, have abated after a crackdown by authorities that U.S.-based rights group HRANA says has killed at least 6,563, including 6,170 protesters and 214 security forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told CNN Türk that 3,100, including 2,000 security forces, had been killed.
The U.S., Israeli and European leaders tried to "provoke, create division, and supplied resources, drawing some innocent people into this movement," Pezeshkian said in a live TV broadcast after meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for the demonstrators, saying the U.S. was prepared to take action if Iran continued to kill protesters. U.S. officials said on Friday that Trump was reviewing his options but had not decided whether to strike Iran.
