It’s Personal: Khamenei Blames Trump and Signals an Escalation in Clashes With Protesters

As killing of protesters intensifies in Iran on the traditional day of prayers Friday, the Islamic Republic’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is turning the regime’s crisis into a test of wills with President Trump. “His hands are full of thousands of Iranians, some terrorists came out last night in Tehran and destroyed some buildings to make Trump satisfied,” the ayatollah said in a speech to supporters that was televised across the country. “Trump should mind his own business. We will not tolerate protesters serving foreign interests.”The ayatollah seemed to address Mr. Trump’s threat to unleash “hell” on the Iranian regime if it started to kill people. Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night, the president said that most of the casualties, which at that time were estimated at more than 40 deaths, were caused by a “stampede” of protesters. “There’s so many people protesting, nobody’s ever seen anything like what’s happening right now,” he said. Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech, though, signaled to regime enforcers to intensify confrontations with the protesters. His use of the word “rioters” seemed to indicate that he thought the time had come to escalate. Evidence, including videos widely spread on social media, shows bodies, complete with bullet wounds, piling up on floors. “Last night in Tehran, and in some other places, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed a building belonging to their own country,” the Iranian leader said in his speech. “Suppose they destroyed a certain building or a wall, just to please the President of America. Because he said some irrelevant nonsense that ‘if the government of Iran does such and such, I will come to the side, I will take your side.’”On Wednesday the son of the late Iranian shah, Reza Pahlavi, who resides at Washington, pleaded with protesters to intensify anti-regime activities on Thursday evening at 8 pm. This morning he called to further the protest activity at the same time Friday, which is 10:30 am EST. “You saw how a massive crowd forced the repressive forces to retreat,” Mr. Pahlavi said in a Farsi-language video message. “Those of you who were hesitant, join your fellow compatriots on Friday night, 8 PM, and make the crowd even larger so that the regime’s repressive power becomes even weaker.”Agents working on behalf of Israel reportedly started distributing Starlink video devices to protesters after the regime blocked internet access across the country on Thursday. Rather than quelling the protest, it intensified though. In his message, Mr. Pahlavi urged “field leaders” to try to “connect different crowd routes to each other and make them bigger. I know that despite the internet and communication cuts, you will not abandon the streets. Be assured that victory belongs to you!”Ayatollah Khamanei seemed to equate the American president to Mr. Pahlavi’s father, the late shah. “As usually happens with despots and global arrogants like Pharaoh, Mohammad Reza, and others like them,” he said, “when they were at the peak of their arrogance, they were overthrown. And this one will be overthrown too.”In his Fox interview, Mr. Trump repeated his warning to the regime. “In the past, they’ve started shooting the hell out of people, and all of a sudden, people without any weapons whatsoever, standing there and get machine guns gunning them down, or they grab, take them to prisons and then hang them and kill them,” he said.Mr. Trump added: “So they played rough, and I said, if they do that, we’re going to hit them very hard” and “we’re ready to do it. If they do that, we’re going to hit them hard.”

It’s Personal: Khamenei Blames Trump and Signals an Escalation in Clashes With Protesters

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