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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday hit out at President Donald Trump, calling him a “criminal” and accusing the United States of stoking unrest that has turned into the deadliest protests in decades.
According to Reuters, Iranian media quoted Khamenei as saying, “The latest anti-Iran treason was different in that the US president was personally involved in it.”
The statement is the latest Iranian government rhetoric to blame the US for contributing to instability in Iran, with Tehran casting Trump as a central figure in what it sees as foreign-inspired unrest. The government has also been pointing fingers at Israel.
Protests have erupted in Iran since late December, initially over economic problems but rapidly expanding into broader anti-regime demonstrations. The protesters have faced strong action by security forces.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits next to the Iranian regime’s flag during an official address in Tehran. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
Human rights groups say thousands of protesters have been killed in the unrest. Reports from various groups said Khamenei was responsible for the crackdown that killed thousands of protesters. US-based human rights activists in Iran on Friday put the death toll at 3,090.
The number, which exceeds any other period of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise.
Meanwhile, Iranian opposition leader Reza Pahlavi told Brett Baier on “Special Report” on Monday that at least 12,000 people were killed.
Trump has expressed support for Iranian protesters and called for regime change, while some Republican lawmakers have openly urged Trump to consider military action.
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Protesters burn a poster depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zweigenberg)
The president said Tuesday he had stopped meetings with the Iranian regime and said there would be no contact until the government stopped killing protesters. He also urged the Iranian people to “take over” the country.
Asked whether Arab and Israeli officials “convinced” him not to attack Iran, Trump told reporters on Friday that he had convinced himself and cited the canceled execution.
Trump also expressed similar sentiments on social media on Friday.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled executions, which were to take place yesterday (over 800 of them), have been canceled by Iran’s leadership. Thank you!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
It is unclear who Trump spoke to in Iran to confirm the status of any planned executions. What does the statement echo white House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt told reporters Thursday about the canceled execution. He said all options remain on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.
Iranians gather blocking a road during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. (MAHSA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“What I would say with respect to Iran is that the President and his team have informed the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be serious consequences,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “And the President got a message as he told all of you yesterday and the whole world murder and hanging will stop. “And the President understood today that 800 executions scheduled and scheduled to take place yesterday had been stopped.”
It is not clear from Trump’s post whether he was referring to the 800 executions that had already been canceled or whether there have been two consecutive days when 800 executions have been canceled.
Meanwhile, a sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami broadcast by Iranian state radio sparked slogans from those gathered for prayers, including: “The armed hypocrites must be put to death!”
According to the Associated Press, Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council, described the protesters as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “butlers” and “Trump’s soldiers.”
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He said Netanyahu and Trump should wait for “stern revenge from the system.”
The cleric said, “Americans and Zionists should not expect peace.”
Fox News Digital’s Benjamin Wenthal and Diana Stancy, as well as Reuters and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
