Tehran (Iran)

Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei accused the US administration of being behind the large-scale protests in Iran. Speaking at a public interaction Khamenei said protestors were acting to please the President of America.

"There are also those whose work is destruction. Last night in Tehran, and in some other places, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed a building belonging to their own country. For example, 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." The side of these rioters and individuals who are harmful to the country. These people have their hopes pinned on him. If he can, let him manage his own country! In his own country, various incidents are occurring," Khamenei was reported as saying by Iranian state media.

The Ayatollah also accused US President Trump of acting like a despot and said that despots are deposed at the peak of their pride.

"Our nation does not tolerate mercenaryism for foreigners. Whoever you may be, once you become a mercenary for a foreigner, once you work for a foreigner, the nation considers you rejected. As for that fellow (Trump) who sits there with arrogance and pride, passing judgment on the whole world, he should also know that usually, the despots and arrogant powers of the world--such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Khan, Mohammad Reza, and the likes of them--were overthrown exactly when they were at the peak of their pride. This one will be overthrown as well," he said.

Earlier, President Trump warned Iran's government against harming protesters, stating that the United States would intervene if innocent people were killed amid the ongoing demonstrations in the Middle Eastern country.

During an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump said, "If they do anything bad to these people, we're going to hit them very hard," reiterating a similar warning he had issued on social media last week.

Commenting on the scale of the unrest, he added that "the enthusiasm to overturn the regime has been incredible."

Trump repeated the warning, in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier, cautioning Iran's authorities of severe consequences if protesters are harmed as demonstrations driven by a deepening economic crisis continue to spread.

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He said, "I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots, they have lots of riots, if they do it, we are going to hit them very hard."

Meanwhile according to Policy research organisation Institute for the study of War, protest activity in Iran has expanded dramatically in both rate and magnitude since January 7, including in major cities like Tehran and in northwestern Iran. The think tank further said that the regime has intensified its crackdown including by taking the rare step of using the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces to suppress protests in at least one province.