Iran’s leader has called Donald Trump a ‘criminal’ for supporting the protests

Iran’s supreme leader has called US President Donald Trump a “criminal” for supporting protesters in Iran and blamed protesters for thousands of deaths.

In a speech broadcast on state television on Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests had killed “several thousand” people – the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of casualties from a wave of protests that began on December 28 and led to a bloody crackdown.

“On this uprising, the US president personally commented, encouraged the traitors to step forward and said, ‘We support you, we support you militarily,'” said Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final say on all state affairs.

He repeated the accusation that the US is trying to dominate Iran’s economic and political resources.

“We consider the US president a criminal, because of the casualties and damage, because of the allegations against the Iranian nation,” he said.

He described the protesters as “foot soldiers” of the United States and said they destroyed mosques and educational centers. “They killed thousands by injuring people,” he said.

His comments came a day after Mr Trump said “Iran has canceled the execution of over 800 people” and “I respect the fact that they have cancelled”.

He did not specify who he spoke to in Iran to confirm the existence of any planned executions. His comments signaled his retreat from the military offensive.

In recent days, Mr Trump has told protesting Iranians that “help is on the way” and that his administration will “act accordingly” if protesters continue to be killed or if Iranian authorities execute protesters in custody.

In his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei, without naming any country, said the rioters were armed with live ammunition imported from abroad.

“We don’t plan, we don’t take the country to war. But we don’t spare domestic criminals, worse than domestic criminals, there are international criminals. We don’t spare them either,” he said, and urged authorities to pursue cases.

Iran has returned to an uneasy calm after a harsh crackdown on protests that began on December 28 over its weak economy.

The crackdown has killed at least 3,090 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, more than in any movement or unrest in Iran since decades of memory and the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

The agency has been accurate over the years of demonstrations, relying on a network of operatives inside Iran who confirm all reported deaths. AP has been unable to independently confirm the toll.

Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the United States and Israel of fomenting unrest in the country. On Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezhekian accused the US and Israel of meddling in the unrest in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There have been no signs of protests in Tehran for days, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normalcy, and Iranian state media have reported no new unrest.

During the unrest, authorities blocked all Internet access on January 8. On Saturday, text messaging and very limited internet services began working again in parts of Iran, witnesses said.

Mobile phone text messaging became operational overnight, while users were able to access local websites through home internet service. Some also reported limited access to international Internet services using virtual private networks.

A call by Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for protesters to return to the streets from Saturday to Monday did not appear to have been heard as of Saturday afternoon.

Mr. Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown in Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, enjoys the support of hardline monarchists in the diaspora but has struggled to gain broad appeal inside Iran.

However, this has not stopped him from presenting himself as Iran’s transitional leader if the government falls.