Dubai: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday branded US President Donald Trump a “criminal” for supporting protesters in Iran, while Trump responded by calling for “new leadership” in the country amid the continuing unrest. Khamenei accused demonstrators of being responsible for thousands of deaths.

In a speech broadcast by state television, Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead — the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began Dec. 28 and led to a bloody crackdown.

Khamenei accuses US of backing unrest

“In this revolt, the U.S. president made remarks in person, encouraged seditious people to go ahead and said: ‘We do support you, we do support you militarily,'" said Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters. He reiterated an accusation that the U.S. seeks domination over Iran’s economic and political resources.

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“We do consider the U.S. president a criminal, because of casualties and damages, because of accusations against the Iranian nation,” he said. He described the protesters as “foot soldiers” of the United States and said they had destroyed mosques and educational centers. “Through hurting people, they killed several thousand of them,” he said.

Trump calls for leadership change

In response, Trump called for an end to Khamenei’s nearly 40-year reign.

“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump told Politico in an interview Saturday. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran," he added.

Mixed signals from Washington

The back-and-forth rhetoric came a day after Trump sounded a conciliatory tone, saying that “Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” and adding that “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.” He did not clarify whom he spoke to in Iran to confirm the state of any planned executions. His comments were a sign he may be backing away from a military strike.

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The official IRNA news agency reported that Tehran Prosecutor Gen. Ali Salehi, referring to Trump's remarks about the cancellation of the death sentence of 800 protesters, said, “Trump always makes futile and irrelevant statements. Our attitude is severe, preventive and fast.” He did not elaborate.

In recent days, Trump had told protesting Iranians that “ help is on the way ” and that his administration would “act accordingly” if the killing of demonstrators continued or if Iranian authorities executed detained protesters.

Claims of foreign involvement

In his speech, Khamenei said rioters were armed with live ammunition that was imported from abroad, without naming any countries.

“We do not plan, we do not take the country toward war. But we do not release domestic offenders, worse than domestic offenders; there are international offenders. We do not let them alone either,” he said, and urged officials to pursue the cases.

Aftermath of the protests

Iran has returned to an uneasy calm after harsh repression of protests that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s ailing economy. The crackdown has left at least 3,308 people dead, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, exceeding that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalling the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

AP