Ammon News - Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged Saturday that thousands of Iranians were killed during more than two weeks of unrest in the country — deaths he blamed on US President Donald Trump, who he said “openly encouraged” the protesters by promising them US “military support.”

In a speech to the nation that was described on his website, Khamenei called Trump a “criminal” responsible “both for the casualties and the damage” during the anti-government protests that broke out in late December, initially sparked by public anger over dire economic conditions.

In his televised address Saturday, Khamenei said the “rioters” involved in the unrest fell under two categories: people supported, funded and trained by the US and Israel, and young people influenced by them. The latter, he said, were “naive individuals whom the ringleaders manipulated.” He said those young people damaged power industry facilities, mosques, educational institutes, banks, medical facilities and grocery stores.

‘A sick man’
Trump responded swiftly, calling for new leadership in Iran and referring to Khamenei as a “sick man” who should “run his country properly and stop killing people.”

In a Saturday morning interview with Politico, Trump said Khamenei is guilty, “as the leader of a country,” of “the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before.”

“In order to keep the country functioning — even though that function is a very low level — the leadership should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control,” Trump said.

The supreme leader recognized in his speech that Iran’s economic situation is “truly difficult” but called for people to unite “in defending the Islamic system and beloved Iran.” He called on government officials to redouble their efforts in supplying essential goods, livestock feed and other essential commodities.

CNN