Trump again expresses support for rioters in Iran

Rasa - US President Donald Trump has again expressed his support for rioters in Iran, saying they are finally taking action against the country’s government.

News ID: 435621

Date: 04 January 2018 - 07:47

RNA - In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Trump called the Iranian government “brutal and corrupt” and said that the United States is “watching” its actions, shortly after the Leader of the Islamic Revolution announced that Iran’s enemies were encouraging violence in the country.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Iran’s enemies have been using various tools to harm the Islamic establishment.

“During the events of the past several days, enemies of Iran used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic establishment,” the Leader said during an address to a weekly meeting with a number of martyrs' families.

Ayatollah Khamenei, however, described “the spirit of courage, sacrifice and faith” in the Iranian nation as an obstacle in the way of the enemy.

In his tweet, Trump said, “All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their ‘pockets.’ The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!”

Trump has often denounced the Iran nuclear deal which resulted in the removal of nuclear related international sanctions against the Islamic Republic and Tehran receiving a portion of its own several billions of dollars illegally held by US and European banks.

Trump has falsely claimed that Iran’s assets frozen in overseas banks due to sanctions amounted to around $150 billion, but the actual figure is about one third of this.

Since Thursday, groups of Iranian protesters have staged demonstrations in several cities over rising prices and economic hardships, which are partly the result of years-long illegal US-led economic sanctions against the country.

The sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

‘Foreign intervention behind Iran riots’

American political analyst Stephen Lendman has said the riots in Iran bear the disturbing earmarks of an attempted US-orchestrated “color revolution.”

“This is foreign intervention by America, the CIA, by Israel, the Mossad – both of them are the same organizations, the nefarious intelligence organizations. [They are] stirring the pot, stirring the trouble, making people believe that the Iranian people are unhappy and want to topple the government which is untrue,” Lendman, a Chicago-based author and radio host, told Press TV on Tuesday.

“The number of people protesting has been relatively small compared to the cities where they are taking place. So in Tehran where the population is something like 15 millions, I think, and merely a thousand people came out to protest. That’s pretty modest,” he added.

“You know if there were hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets protesting, that would have been something serious. But it hasn’t been that way,” the analyst said.

“I think this is all provoked. I think the CIA and Mossad have hired provocateurs and assassins. The people involved in shooting Iranians are assassins. I believe they were hired by America and Israel to do this,” he noted.

“Well, Iran is very familiar with the tactics of America and Israel, and it is well-prepared to deal with them. Its security forces, police and so on will deal with it. They are not shooting with their own people,” Lendman stated.

Sporadic violence has erupted during the days of protests in Iran causing a number of deaths.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday the Iranian people would deal with a "small and minority group" of rioters and lawbreakers exploiting the protests against economic conditions in a number of Iranian cities in recent days.

Addressing a Cabinet session on Sunday, Rouhani said the Iranian people were completely free to express their criticism of the government or stage protests according to the Constitution and citizenship rights, and in a way that would lead to the improvement of the country's conditions.

Iranian officials have said Trump’s support for rioters in Iran shows Washington's scheme to hatch a new act of sedition against the Islamic Republic.

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