Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, blamed President Donald Trump on Friday for encouraging nationwide unrest, as the regime continues to kill anti-government protesters despite Trump’s repeated warnings that attacks on civilians will result in U.S. intervention.
"Last night in Tehran, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed buildings that belonged to them to please the U.S. president," Khamenei said to a crowd that repeatedly chanted "Death to America." He added that Trump’s hands were "stained with the blood of thousands of Iranians," and that the protesters were acting "as mercenaries for foreigners."
Khamenei accused rioters of destroying their own cities to curry favor with Trump and claimed the president’s recent warnings to Iran’s leadership had emboldened what he called "elements hostile to the nation." He insisted the Islamic Republic was "established with the blood of several hundred thousand honorable people, and it will not back down" in the face of the protests.
Khamenei’s remarks follow a wave of popular protests across Iran that erupted in late December after the value of the Iranian rial plummeted. The regime has killed at least 38 people, including 8 children, with rights groups saying the death toll could be as high as 57. Trump reaffirmed his threat to Iran on Friday, saying Washington would "hit Iran very, very hard where it hurts" if the regime killed civilians.
"Iran is in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago," Trump told reporters Friday. "We’re watching the situation very carefully."
"I’ve made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved," Trump said. "That doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts. We don’t want that to happen."
