A scene of protests and damage near Ferdowsi Square Tehran, Photo: Tansim News Agency
President Donald Trump lavished praise on Iranian protesters for “acting against the brutal and corrupt” regime as Tehran blamed the United States and Saudi Arabia for the unrest gripping the country.
Trump used his Twitter account to discard his predecessor Barack Obama’s policy of placating Iran with billions of dollars as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Reacting to Trump’s twitter messages on the Iranian protests, the foreign ministry in Tehran said, “Instead of wasting his time sending useless and insulting tweets regarding other countries, he would be better off seeing to the domestic issues of his own country, such as daily killings of dozens of people… and the existence of millions of homeless and hungry people.”
The days of protests have rocked the oil-rich Persian country and the law enforcement forces are allegedly using harsh tactics to quell anti-government demonstrations.
As per reports around 21 protesters have been killed, several others injured and hundreds arrested in six days of demonstrations against economic conditions of the Iranian people as well as its foreign policy including military interventions in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
President Hassan Rouhani has said his government will not tolerate any unrest and the country’s forces will deal strictly with “respond to rioters and lawbreakers.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme Iranian leader alleged that enemies of Iran were fueling the protests.
“In recent days, enemies of Iran used different tools, including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic.” Khamenei said.
According to a Voice of America report Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia of fomenting the protests in Iran.
“Saudis will receive Iran’s unexpected response and they know how serious it can be,” Shamkhani said, according to a report.
