Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed President Trump for the deaths and injuries of protesters during recent demonstrations that shook the Middle Eastern country.

“We hold the American president guilty for the casualties, the damage and the accusations he has leveled against the Iranian nation,” he said, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency. Khamenei addressed a crowd of supporters during a speech on the occasion of a religious holiday.

Khamenei also called the protests an “American conspiracy” and accused the United States of trying to “return Iran under military, political and economic domination.” He also called Trump a “criminal,” Reuters said.

“The last sedition against Iran was different in the sense that the president of the United States became personally involved,” Khamenei said, according to Reuters.

The protests began as Demonstrations against economic difficulties. and quickly escalated into nationwide protests against the leadership of the Islamic Republic.

The protests continued for more than two weeks before authorities began a brutal crackdown. The Internet in Iran was shut down at the end of last week and it is still difficult to obtain information within the country. Two sources inside the Islamic Republic, including one inside Iran who was able to call from the country on Tuesday, told News themezone that at least 12,000 and it is feared that up to 20,000 people may have died. Thousands more were arrested and are now facing possible death sentences for participating in the demonstrations.

Foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab said on “News Saturday Morning” that sources inside Iran have described a nation “stricken with fear and in deep mourning.”

“We have had accounts of mass funerals and bodies buried in unmarked graves,” Tyab said. The worst of the violence reportedly occurred during what is called “The Night of Blood” last Thursday, he said.

Sources say there is now relative calm during the day, Tyab said, although at night chants of “death to the dictator” can be heard from the rooftops.

Trump told “News Evening News” host Tony Dokoupil on Tuesday that there would be “very strong action” against the Iranian regime if it hangs the accused protesters. He said in the Oval Office on Wednesday that “we have been told that the killings in Iran are stopping, they have stopped, they are stopping.”

“They said that the killings had stopped and that the executions would not take place,” he said, citing “very important sources on the other side” but without giving any specifications. “There were supposed to be a lot of executions today and they won’t happen. And we’re going to find out.”

On Friday, Trump even took the unusual step of thanking the Iranian government for not carrying out the executions of what he claimed were hundreds of political prisoners.

“Iran canceled the hanging of more than 800 people,” he told reporters as he left the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, adding that he “very much respected” the move.

Trump repeatedly expressed support for the protesters and told Iranians that “help is on the way.” The Trump administration says the president has a range of options at your disposal, from conventional military attacks to cyber warfare.