By Hira Humayun, CNN
(CNN) — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged Saturday that thousands of Iranians were killed during more than two weeks of unrest in the country — deaths he blamed on US President Donald Trump, who he said “openly encouraged” the protesters by promising them US “military support.”
In a speech to the nation that was described on his website, Khamenei called Trump a “criminal” responsible “both for the casualties and the damage” during the anti-government protests that broke out in late December, initially sparked by public anger over dire economic conditions.
Khamenei, 86, made no mention of the brutal tactics of Iran’s security forces in quelling the protests. Witnesses and human rights groups have described government forces opening fire on protesters in the streets and from rooftops. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the unrest, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). CNN cannot independently verify this figure.
In his televised address Saturday, Khamenei said the “rioters” involved in the unrest fell under two categories: people supported, funded and trained by the US and Israel, and young people influenced by them. The latter, he said, were “naive individuals whom the ringleaders manipulated.” He said those young people damaged power industry facilities, mosques, educational institutes, banks, medical facilities and grocery stores.
The Iranian government has often blamed “foreign” agents for the deadly protests in the country, without providing evidence.
“By harming the people, they (the ‘rioters’) killed several thousand of them,” Khamenei said.
“Some were killed with a force that was inhuman … completely savagely,” the Iranian leader continued. “These actions were part of the sedition’s pre-prepared blueprint.”
Earlier in the week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pushed back against the reported death toll of “thousands,” telling Fox News’ Bret Baier that the number was actually in the hundreds and that suggestions otherwise were part of a “misinformation campaign.”
In his Saturday speech, Khamenei declared that “the US must be held accountable.”
During the unrest, Trump encouraged protesters to keep up the demonstrations and “take over” the country’s institutions, assuring them that “help is on its way.”
“We consider the US President a criminal, both for the casualties and damage, and for the slander he leveled against the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said, according to a translation of speech excerpts on his website.
‘A sick man’
Trump responded swiftly, calling for new leadership in Iran and referring to Khamenei as a “sick man” who should “run his country properly and stop killing people.”
In a Saturday morning interview with Politico, Trump said Khamenei is guilty, “as the leader of a country,” of “the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before.”
“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,” Trump said.
The supreme leader recognized in his speech that Iran’s economic situation is “truly difficult” but called for people to unite “in defending the Islamic system and beloved Iran.” He called on government officials to redouble their efforts in supplying essential goods, livestock feed and ot