US President Donald Trump recently shot back at Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the latter labeled him “criminal” and blamed him for the murder of thousands of protesters in Tehran. Responding to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s recent remarks, he called the 86-year-old a “sick man” and a failed ruler.
Trump alleged that Iran’s leadership relies on repression as he raised calls for new leadership in the Middle Eastern nation. Marking a sharp escalation in the war of words between the two nations, Trump in an interview with politics said, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” as he called for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 37-year reign.
Asserting that leadership is about respect, not fear and death, Trump said, “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” the news outlet reports. He added, “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.”
This follows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statement on Saturday where he blamed Trump for weeks of demonstrations that reportedly led to more than 3,000 deaths.
According to Iranian state media, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation.”
Asserting that leadership is about respect, not fear and death, Trump said, “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” the news outlet reports. He added, “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.”
This follows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statement on Saturday where he blamed Trump for weeks of demonstrations that reportedly led to more than 3,000 deaths.
According to Iranian state media, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation.”
Iran’s domestic situation destabilized after the agitators took to the streets on December 28 to protest over the economic hardship. As Khamenei blamed the US President of inciting deadly protests, he said, “We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished,” state media reported. Khamenei said that internal criminals are worse than the international criminals as he warned of strict action.
Trump repeatedly threatened military intervention and warned against “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters. On January 13, Trump said that “help is on its way” as he called on Iranians to keep protesting and “take over institutions.”
However, his statement abruptly changed course on Friday as Iran’s unrest stabilized. Trump expressed gratitude to Iran’s leaders for calling off mass hangings, but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led government dismissed such claims and said that there was “no plan to hang people,” reuters reported.
Over size of a possible US military operation in Iran, Trump on Saturday said, “The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago.” The nationwide protests that rocked Iran over the last three weeks were the nation’s worst unrest in years.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held Iran’s longtime enemies the US and Israel responsible of organizing the fatal violence and said, “Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousand.” He emphasized that agents of the US and Israel operating inside Iran, who started fires, destroyed public property and incited chaos, “committed crimes and a grave slander.”
Accusing Trump over the deadly violence and unrest in Iran, Khamenei in a post on
