Khamenei calls Trump a 'criminal', says protests left 'several thousand' dead
Iran's supreme leader accused the US president of encouraging protests and said demonstrations killed 'several thousand'. Officials report limited internet access as the country returns to an uneasy calm.
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By Torontoer Staff
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called U.S. President Donald Trump a "criminal" for publicly backing protesters, and for the first time a senior Iranian official suggested the unrest left "several thousand" people dead. Khamenei blamed demonstrators for widespread destruction and fatalities in remarks carried on state television.
The speech came amid an information blackout and conflicting casualty counts. Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based monitoring group, put the death toll at 3,095, a figure the Associated Press could not independently confirm. Iranian officials have offered no comparable official tally.
Khamenei’s accusations and the message to foreign powers
Khamenei accused the U.S. of fomenting unrest and singled out Trump for encouraging demonstrators. He said foreign actors supplied live ammunition to "rioters," without naming countries, and described the protesters as "foot soldiers" of the United States who destroyed mosques and educational centres.
We do consider the U.S. president a criminal, because of casualties and damages, because of accusations against the Iranian nation.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
He framed the government’s response as defensive, saying officials should pursue both domestic and international offenders. Khamenei emphasised that Iran does not seek war, but that it will not leave those it called "international offenders" unchallenged.
Where Trump and Tehran stand
The remarks follow a more measured tone from Trump earlier in the week, when he said, "Iran cancelled the hanging of over 800 people, I greatly respect the fact that they cancelled." He did not specify his source for the claim. In the days before, Trump had told Iranians that "help is on the way" if killings continued or if detained protesters were executed.
Tehran’s prosecutor general dismissed Trump's comment about cancelled executions as irrelevant. State media quoted Prosecutor General Ali Salehi as saying the government’s stance is "severe, preventive and fast," without providing further detail.
Casualty figures and the information blackout
The unrest began on Dec. 28, and rights groups say the crackdown was one of the deadliest in decades. The Human Rights Activists News Agency said the recent wave of protests resulted in at least 3,095 deaths. Independent verification is limited because authorities cut internet access in mid-January.
Authorities shut down most internet services on Jan. 8, citing security concerns. On Saturday, some text messaging and limited domestic internet access returned in parts of the country, and a small number of users reported accessing international services via virtual private networks. Monitoring groups registered only slight increases in connectivity.
- Dec. 28: Protests begin over economic conditions.
- Jan. 8: Authorities block most internet access nationwide.
- Recent days: Limited domestic internet and text messaging briefly restored.
- Human Rights Activists News Agency reports over 3,000 deaths, a figure not independently verified.
Public response and political fallout
Street activity in Tehran appeared subdued, with shopping and daily routines showing signs of normalisation. State media reported no new unrest. Calls from exiled opposition figures did not produce noticeable renewed demonstrations inside the country.
Iran’s leadership has repeatedly blamed the United States and Israel for stirring unrest. On Friday, President Masoud Pezeshkian told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that foreign interference was a factor in the unrest, according to Iranian reports.
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.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The government’s framing casts the recent protests as at least partly orchestrated from abroad and as a security threat, a narrative that supports ongoing crackdowns and legal action against detained protesters.
What to watch next
Key open questions include the true scale of casualties, the scope of any planned prosecutions or executions, and whether limited internet restorations will continue. International monitoring groups and news organisations remain constrained in their ability to corroborate reports from inside Iran.
Khamenei’s public denunciation of the U.S. president raises the diplomatic stakes and signals Tehran’s intent to pursue those it blames for violence, while the information blackout and competing casualty counts keep the situation opaque for observers and families alike.
IranKhameneiprotestsDonald Trumpinternet outage
