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.
One protester in Tehran told CNN how waves of people from the capital had flooded the streets, unarmed, in recent days as government forces fired down from rooftops and military drones flew overhead.
“They were aiming with lasers and shooting people in the face” the eye-witness said, speaking anonymously for security reasons.
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