Iran’s supreme leader vowed on Friday that the government “will not back down” in the face of protests that have rocked the country in recent weeks, accusing demonstrators of being vandals who were trying to “please” President Trump.
“There are people whose job is only about destruction,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a defiant, televised speech in Tehran, the capital.
On Thursday, Iran was plunged into an internet blackout as demonstrations demanding the ouster of the government spread and grew in size. The protests, which began in late December, have turned deadly.
On Thursday, Amnesty International, a rights group, said at least 28 protesters and bystanders, including children, had been killed between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. Three other groups that document and track human rights — HRANA, based in Washington, Iran Human Rights based in Norway and the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights — put the toll at more than 40.
Videos filmed on Thursday night and verified by The New York Times showed government buildings on fire across the country, including in Tehran. One of the videos showed fires in the streets of Kaj Square in the capital, with thousands of protesters flooding the area.
Mr. Khamenei struck a more aggressive tone than Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who this week called for tolerance and dialogue, saying “any violent and coercive behavior” should be avoided.
“Last night in Tehran and in some other places, a group of vandals came and damaged buildings belonging to their own country just to please the president of the United States,” Mr. Khamenei said.
Mr. Trump said last week that the United States would come to the aid of protesters in Iran if the government used lethal force against them.
“He wants to side with the rioters and harmful individuals,” Mr. Khamenei said of Mr. Trump. “If he can, he should go and run his own country.”
The initial demonstrations were led by merchants protesting the plummeting value of the Iranian rial, but they have since spread to cities across the country amid broader anger against Iran’s theocratic government.
Mr. Khamenei, 86, has ruled over Iran for three decades as supreme leader. He sits above all other branches of government and has sweeping control of Iran’s theocratic system.
A crowd of supporters chanted “Death to America” during his speech on Friday, in which he said Mr. Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood” of Iranians who were killed in a 12-day war with Israel last June.
The war further weakened the country’s economy, which has been under sustained pressure for years, largely because of U.S. and European sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We will not tolerate serving foreign powers,” Mr. Khamenei said. “Whoever you may be, if you work for foreigners, the people and the Islamic system will reject you.”
Mr. Khamenei urged young people to “preserve” their religion, their “political thought” and their “readiness,” adding that “a united nation will overcome any enemy.”
Mr. Trump has recently touted his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world — most recently by capturing the president of Venezuela. But in an interview on Thursday with Hugh Hewitt, a conservative American commentator, Mr. Trump was evasive when asked if he now intended to force regime change in Iran.
“I don’t want to say it, but I will tell you they’re not doing well,” Mr. Trump said, referring to Iran’s government. He reiterated that “if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots,” the United States would “hit them very hard.”
When asked about the dozens reportedly killed in the protests so far, Mr. Trump said that some had died in crowd stampedes, adding “I’m not sure I can necessarily hold somebody responsible for that.”
Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Vows to ‘Not Back Down’ as Protests Swell appeared first on New York Times.
