Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose regime is teetering on the verge of collapse amid nationwide unrest, told Iranians that President Donald Trump will be “overthrown” like “arrogant” rulers before him.
With regime supporters chanting “Death to America” in the background, the Iranian dictator compared the elected U.S. president to biblical figures of Pharaoh and Nimrod. “He too will be brought down,” Khamenei said in a televised address on Friday.
Khamenei accused the protesters of being U.S. and Israel “agents,” vowing to crush the uprising. “The 86-year-old leader of the regime in Tehran signalled authorities would crack down on demonstrators during a brief televised address, as an audience shouted ‘Death to America’,” France’s Euronews reported.
The UK-based broadcaster Iran International reported Khamenei’s angry remarks:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday warned US President Donald Trump that he would be brought down, as he spoke about protests and accused foreign-backed forces of trying to destabilize Iran.
“Trump should know that world tyrants such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza were brought down at the peak of their arrogance. He too will be brought down,” Khamenei said in remarks aired on state television.
He said the Islamic Republic would not retreat in the face of unrest. “Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people, and it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” he said.
Referring to protests in the country, Khamenei accused demonstrators of acting to please the US president. (…)
Referring to the June attacks, Khamenei said: “In the 12-day war, more than a thousand of our compatriots were martyred.” He added that the US president had said, “I gave the order and I commanded the attack,” and said this amounted to an admission that “his hands are stained with the blood of Iranians.”
Meanwhile, the death toll rises as Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) quells anti-regime protests with deadly force.
“At least 62 people have been killed in the protests that began in late December over Iran’s ailing economy and have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years,” Canada’s CBC reported late night Friday.
As the uprising enters its 13th day, the BBC reports that a “large crowd of protesters [was seen] walking along a major road in eastern Tehran.” In Iran’s second-largest city, Mashhad, people were heard chanting “Long live the shah” and “This is the final battle! Pahlavi will return,” referring to the Crown Prince Reza Shah, whose father was ousted in the Islamic takeover of 1979. It is worth noting that chanting pro-monarchist slogans carried a death penalty in Iran.
The remarks come as President Trump said that Khamenei was “looking to go someplace” amid newspaper reports that he had plans to flee to Russia if the regime were to collapse.
The Daily Telegraph (UK) reported Friday:
The supreme leader of Iran has made plans to flee as anti-regime protests grip his country, Donald Trump has claimed.
The US president said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was “looking to go someplace” when asked about reports he could escape to Russia.
Protesters chanted “death to Khamenei” and “freedom, freedom” in Tehran, the capital, on Thursday night and set buildings on fire elsewhere in the largest day of unrest since the demonstrations began in December. (…)
Discussions have taken place inside Iran over a Nicolás Maduro-style arrangement, which would result in Khamenei leaving Iran in exchange for keeping
On Thursday night, the regime cut off the internet and phones throughout the country as protests intensified. The surge in demonstrations came after the exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, called his countrymen to rise against the Mullah regime.
Protests raged for the second night following the call. “Tens of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets on Friday night in a second night of mass, nationwide antigovernment protests despite a total internet blackout and threats of a severe crackdown from the senior Iranian leadership,” The New York Times reported.
The Crown Prince renewed his call on Friday, Germany’s DW TV reported:
The son of Iran’s last shah, Reza Pahlavi, has issued another call for fresh protests in Iran on Friday evening.
The exiled crown prince urged his supporters and opponents of the Iranian government to take to the streets.
In a post on his social media channels, Pahlavi said he was “proud of each and every one of you who took over the streets across Iran on Thursday night.”
“Those of you who were hesitant, join your fellow compatriots on Friday night, and make the crowd even larger so that the regime’s repressive power becomes even weaker,” he said.
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