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iran supreme leaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei Thousands killed after crackdown acknowledged for first time There have been widespread protests this month.
Protests broke out on December 28 due to economic difficulties and escalated to large demonstrationagainst Iran’s religious rulers.
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei accused Donald Trump Human rights groups say weeks of demonstrations have left more than 3,000 people dead.
“We hold the President of the United States guilty of causing casualties, damage and defamation to the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said on his official X account. He described the death as “barbaric” in his speech, according to BBC Persian.
Trump has repeatedly threatened military intervention, including threatening to take “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters.
But on Friday, he claimed the Iranian regime had called off hundreds of mass hangings and thanked its leaders in a post on Truth Society. Tehran says it has “no plans” to execute people.
Khamenei appeared to echo Trump, saying: “We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished.”
He said “thousands of people have died” and blamed Israel and the United States for organizing the violence.
“Those with ties to Israel and the United States have caused enormous damage and killed thousands,” he wrote.
The top leader claimed without evidence that protesters set fires, damaged public property and incited chaos. He said they had “committed crimes and grave defamations”.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, and more than 22,000 arrests.
It is difficult to verify the death toll and reports in Iran as a nationwide internet blockade was partially lifted on Saturday. A sweeping communications blackout was partially lifted earlier this week.
Although Tehran has denied planning executions, Iran’s attorney general said last week that those detained would face severe punishment.
He said the detainees included people who “helped rioters and terrorists attack security forces and public property” as well as “mercenaries who took up arms and spread fear among citizens.”
The arrests also included several people described by Iranian state media as “ringleaders,” including a woman named Nazanin Baradaran, who was detained after a “complex intelligence operation.”
Baradaran is accused of operating on behalf of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi under the pseudonym Raha Parham and playing a leading role in organizing the unrest, state media reported.
Opposition leader Pahlavi has positioned himself as a potential leader if the regime falls and has said he would seek to rebuild diplomatic ties between Iran and Israel if he were to take a leadership role in the country.