Iran's leader Khamenei accuses Trump of inciting protests; death toll tops 3,000

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei connected Saturday blamed President Donald Trump for weeks of demonstrations that rights groups said person led to much than 3,000 deaths.

"We see the U.S. president transgression for the casualties, damages and slander helium inflicted connected the Iranian nation," Khamenei said, according to Iranian authorities media.

The protests erupted connected December 28 implicit economical hardship and swelled into wide demonstrations calling for the extremity of clerical regularisation successful the Islamic Republic.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including by threatening "very beardown action" if Iran executes protesters.

But connected Friday, successful a societal media post, helium thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they had called disconnected wide hangings. Iran said determination was "no program to bent people".

In comments that appeared to respond to Trump, Khamenei said: "We volition not resistance the state into war, but we volition not fto home oregon planetary criminals spell unpunished," authorities media reported.

In an interrogation with Politico connected Saturday, Trump said "it's clip to look for caller enactment successful Iran" and called for an extremity to Khamenei's 37-year rule.

In a abstracted interrogation with Reuters connected Wednesday, Trump said that Iranian absorption fig Reza Pahlavi "seems precise nice," but expressed uncertainty implicit whether Pahlavi would beryllium capable to muster enactment wrong Iran to yet instrumentality over.

Iran's eventual authorization Khamenei said "several 1000 deaths" had happened during the nationwide protests, which are Iran's worst unrest successful years. He accused Iran's longtime enemies the U.S. and Israel of organising the violence.

"Those linked to Israel and the U.S. caused monolithic harm and killed respective thousand," helium said, adding that they started fires, destroyed nationalist spot and incited chaos. They "committed crimes and a sedate slander," helium said.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, oregon HRANA, said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, and implicit 22,000 arrests.

Last week, Iran's authoritative wide said detainees would look terrible punishment. Those held included radical who "aided rioters and terrorists attacking information forces and nationalist property" and "mercenaries who took up arms and dispersed fearfulness among citizens," helium said.

"All perpetrators are mohareb," authorities media quoted Mohammad Movahedi Azad arsenic saying, adding that investigations would beryllium conducted "without leniency, mercy oregon tolerance".

Mohareb, an Islamic ineligible word meaning to wage warfare against God, is punishable by decease nether Iranian law.

Reuters has not been capable to independently verify the numbers of casualties oregon details of disturbances reported by Iranian media and rights groups. The crackdown appears to person broadly quelled protests, according to residents and authorities media.

Getting accusation has been analyzable by net blackouts, which were partially lifted for a fewer hours aboriginal connected Saturday. But net monitoring radical NetBlocks said the blackout seemed to person been reimposed precocious connected Saturday.

"Internet connectivity continues to flatline successful #Iran contempt a insignificant short-lived bump successful entree earlier today," NetBlocks said connected X. "As the shutdown enters time ten, disorder surrounds whether the authorities intends to reconstruct work soon, oregon astatine all."

A nonmigratory of Karaj, westbound of Tehran, reached by telephone via WhatsApp, said helium noticed the net was backmost astatine 4 a.m. section clip (0000 GMT) connected Saturday. Karaj experienced immoderate of the astir terrible unit during the protests. The resident, who asked not to beryllium identified, said Thursday was the highest of the unrest there.

State media person reported the apprehension of thousands of "rioters and terrorists" crossed the country, including radical linked to absorption groups overseas that advocator the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

The arrests included respective radical Iranian authorities media described arsenic "ringleaders," including a pistillate named arsenic Nazanin Baradaran, who was taken into custody pursuing "complex quality operations."

The reports said that Baradaran operated nether the pseudonym Raha Parham connected behalf of Reza Pahlavi - the exiled lad of Iran's past shah - and had played a starring relation successful organising the unrest. Reuters could not verify the study oregon her identity.

Pahlavi, a longtime absorption figure, has positioned himself arsenic a imaginable person successful the lawsuit of authorities illness and has said helium would question to re-establish diplomatic ties betwixt Iran and Israel if helium were to presume a enactment relation successful the country.

Israeli officials person expressed enactment for Pahlavi. In a uncommon nationalist disclosure this month, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said successful an interrogation with Israel's Army Radio that Israel had operatives "on the ground" successful Iran.

He said they aimed to weaken Iran's capabilities, though helium denied they were straight moving to topple the leadership.