E-Paper
‘Consider US President a criminal’: Khamenei blames Trump for inflicting ‘casualties, damages’ on Iranians
The statement comes after recent protests in Iran where at least 3,428 protesters have been killed by security forces. However, the toll could be higher.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called US President Donald Trump a “criminal” even as he blamed the United States for inflicting "casualties and damages" on Iranians during the recent protests in the country.
"We hold the American president guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation," the Iranian leader told a crowd of supporters during an address.
Referring to the recent protests, he called it an “American conspiracy”, adding that "America's goal is to swallow Iran... the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination".
The statement comes after recent protests in Iran where at least 3,428 protesters have been killed by security forces. However, the toll could be higher.
In a post on social media platform X, Khamenei said, "We consider the President of the United States a criminal due to the casualties, damages, and slanders he inflicted upon the Iranian nation."
He also said that he wouldn't drag the country into war, but added that domestic or international criminals go unpunished.
“We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished," he said.
The protests, one of the largest to have challenged the theocratic system in decades, subsided after a violent crackdown and under an internet blackout.
The protests sparked by economic grievances started with a shutdown in the Tehran bazaar on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.
US President Trump had backed protestors and told them to keep protesting, even to the extent of not ruling out a military intervention. However, Iran hit back at the US threats, suggesting the American military bases in the region would be legitimate targets of Iranian strikes, in case Tehran is attacked.
