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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US and Donald Trump of being responsible for “casualties, damage and slander” in his country during recent protests.<\/p>\n
In a speech on Saturday, Khamenei acknowledged that thousands of people had been killed during recent unrest, “some in an inhuman, savage manner” but blamed the deaths on “seditionists”.<\/p>\n
The US president has urged Iranian anti-government demonstrators to “keep protesting” and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.<\/p>\n
Protests in Iran have claimed 3,090 lives, according to US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in unrest that started over the economy on 28 December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Since then, the protests have turned into calls for the end of the rule of Iran’s supreme leader.<\/p>\n
The Iranian government has called the demonstrations “riots” backed by Iran’s enemies.<\/p>\n
Protesters have been met with deadly force and there has been a near-total shutdown of the internet and communication services.<\/p>\n
There have been fewer reports of unrest in recent days but with internet access still restricted developments on the ground remain unclear. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During his speech on Saturday, Khamenei also said Iran considered President Trump to be a “criminal” and said the US must be “held accountable” for recent unrest.<\/p>\n
He also claimed on social media that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran”. <\/p>\n
Trump has not yet responded to the supreme leader and the BBC has approached the White House for a comment.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had been told “the killing in Iran has stopped”, but added that he had not ruled out military action against the country.<\/p>\n
His comments came after the US and UK both reduced the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.<\/p>\n
Officials told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that a partial American withdrawal was a “precautionary measure”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n