PARIS: Iran&#39;s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said authorities &quot;must break the back of the seditionists&quot; and blamed US President Donald Trump for &quot;casualties&quot; after a crackdown on a protest wave against the country&#39;s clerical authorities. &quot;We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals,&quot; he told supporters during an address marking a religious holiday, adding that &quot;international criminals&quot; would also not be spared punishment. &quot;By God&#39;s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists&nbsp;just as it broke the back of the sedition.&quot; Iran was rocked by weeks of demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship that exploded into the biggest protests against the Islamic republic in more than three years despite a deadly crackdown rights groups say left thousands dead under an internet blackout. Iranian authorities have blamed the United States for the mass demonstrations they have called &quot;riots&quot; and &quot;terrorist&quot; operations. Khamenei lashed out at Trump, who had threatened military action against Iran if protesters were killed, accusing him of being &quot;guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation&quot;. &quot;This was an American conspiracy,&quot; he said, adding that &quot;America&#39;s goal is to swallow Iran... the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination&quot;.

Middle East

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said authorities "must break the back of the seditionists" and blamed US President Donald Trump for "casualties" after a crackdown on a protest wave against the country's clerical authorities

Articles tagged with "Crackdown on the protests"

Iran's Khamenei says authorities 'must break the back of the seditionists'