President Trump over the weekend called for “new leadership” in Iran just hours after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went on a social media tirade blaming Mr. Trump personally for violent protests across Tehran and the deaths of thousands of Iranians.
The rhetorical back-and-forth between the two leaders comes at an especially tense moment for the U.S. and Iran, and amid speculation that Mr. Trump could order direct military action against the Islamic republic.
Tehran over the past several weeks has been rocked by widespread protests and has responded with a harsh crackdown against its own citizens, leading to thousands of deaths. Some estimates have the death toll at well over 10,000, though an exact number is difficult to pin down amid an internet-and-information blackout imposed across much of the country.
Throughout the demonstrations, Iran has blamed figures linked to the U.S. and Israel for stoking unrest. But Ayatollah Khamanei said that Mr. Trump bears personal responsibility.
“We find the U.S. president guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” he said in a series of posts on X. “In the numerous seditions in Iran in the past, it was usually the press & second-tier U.S. or European politicians who were interfering. The unique feature of this sedition was that the U.S. president himself interfered in this sedition & encouraged the seditionists.”
“The U.S. president sent a message to the seditionists saying he would support them and provide military support. In other words, the U.S. president himself was involved in the sedition. These are criminal acts,” the 86-year-old ayatollah said.
Mr. Trump spoke to Politico shortly after the Iranian leader’s social media posts.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Mr. Trump told the outlet.
“What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said of the ayatollah. “In order to keep the country functioning — even though that function is a very low level — the leadership should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control.”
“Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump encouraged the Iranian demonstrators throughout the protests. He vowed that “help is on the way” and publicly spoke about potential U.S. military strikes against Iran.
The prospect of such strikes seemed to decline after Iran chose not to publicly execute hundreds of protesters, as it had threatened to do.
There are major questions about the future of a post-Khamanei Iran. But Mr. Trump’s calls for new leadership will likely reverberate in Tehran and across the broader Middle East.
The recent U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shows that the Trump administration is willing to use military force to remove a head of state or other key foreign leader.
