Dubai, 18 January (H.S.): Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday denounced U.S. President Donald Trump as a criminal for endorsing nationwide protesters, marking the first official acknowledgment from Tehran of thousands slain in a brutal crackdown that erupted on December 28, 2025.
Supreme Leader Unveils Grim Casualty Tally
In a state television address delivered Saturday, Khamenei divulged that the unrest—sparked by economic woes—had claimed several thousand lives, attributing the carnage to demonstrators whom he cast as American proxies wielding foreign-supplied ammunition. He accused Trump of direct incitement, quoting the President as vowing military backing for seditious people, and vowed pursuit of both domestic rioters and unnamed international culprits.
U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) tallies at least 3,308 fatalities as of January 17, with Iran Human Rights pegging 3,428 confirmed protester deaths by January 14, predominantly youths under 30, amid an internet blackout that obscured fuller reporting.
Trump Retorts with Regime Change Ultimatum
Trump fired back in a Saturday Politico interview, branding Khamenei a sick man unfit to govern after nearly four decades, urging Iranians to seek new leadership amid what he deemed the world's worst living conditions under tyrannical rule.
This verbal joust followed Trump's Friday nod to de-escalation, praising Tehran's purported cancellation of over 800 protester hangings—claims dismissed by Prosecutor General Ali Salehi as futile fabrications, with no elaboration on execution statuses.
Earlier, Trump had signaled help is on the way for demonstrators, hinting at reprisals should killings or executions persist.
Uneasy Truce Follows Massacre-Scale Repression
Protests have ebbed into an anxious lull post-January 8's Tehran bloodbath, where hospitals logged 217 gunshot deaths alone, per HRANA, evoking 1979 Revolution echoes amid live-fire tactics, mass arrests exceeding 2,000, and minor casualties including over 40 detained children.
Tehran insists no war looms, yet vows unyielding justice, while expatriate voices like Reza Pahlavi clamor for the Islamic Republic's collapse.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
