Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei says Trump ‘guilty for the casualties’ in protests

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday blamed United States President Donald Trump for weeks of demonstrations that rights groups said have led to more than 3,000 deaths.

"We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said, according to Iranian state media.

"This was an American conspiracy," he said, adding that "America's goal is to swallow Iran ... the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination."

The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including by threatening "very strong action" if Iran executed protesters.

But on Friday, in a social media post, he thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they had called off mass hangings. Iran said there was "no plan to hang people".

In comments that appeared to respond to Trump, Khamenei said: "We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished," state media reported.

Iran's ultimate authority, Khamenei, said "several thousand deaths" had happened during the nationwide protests, which are Iran's worst unrest in years. He accused Iran's longtime enemies, the US and Israel, of organising the violence.

"Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousand," he said, adding that they started fires, destroyed public property and incited chaos. They "committed crimes and a grave slander", he said.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, and over 22,000 arrests.

Last week, Iran's prosecutor general said detainees would face severe punishment. Those held included people who "aided rioters and terrorists attacking security forces and public property" and "mercenaries who took up arms and spread fear among citizens", he said.

"All perpetrators are mohareb," state media quoted Mohammad Movahedi Azad as saying, adding that investigations would be conducted "without leniency, mercy or tolerance".

Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.