DUBAI, Jan 17: 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. But on Friday, in a social media post, he thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they had called off mass 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 let domestic or international criminals go unpunished," state media reported.
Iran's clerical establishment blames the violence in Iran's nationwide protests on people it says are armed rioters posing as protesters, labelling them "terrorists" and saying that Israel and the US were responsible for organising them and for many of the deaths of demonstrators and security forces.
"We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said.
"Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousand," he said, adding that they started fires, destroyed public property and incited chaos. They "committed crimes and a grave slander," he said. "REUTERS
