U.S. President Donald Trump sharply escalated his rhetoric against Iran on Saturday, calling for an end to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decades-long rule and accusing him of leading a regime built on “fear and death.”
In an interview with Politico, Trump described Khamenei as a “sick man” and declared, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.” The remarks came as mass protests in Iran appeared to subside and amid growing speculation over whether the United States would launch a military strike following the Iranian regime’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators.
Earlier in the week, Trump repeatedly threatened military intervention and said Tuesday that “help is on its way.” However, by Wednesday, his tone had shifted, stating he had received reports that the executions had ceased. “The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago,” Trump said Saturday when asked about a potential military operation.
Khamenei responded with a blistering series of posts on X, accusing the United States of orchestrating the unrest. “The Iranian nation struck a major blow to the sedition on 22nd of Dey (12th of January),” he wrote. “The US had made extensive preparations to orchestrate this sedition. This sedition was a prelude to even bigger schemes. The Iranian nation defeated the US. Yes, we extinguished the fire of the sedition, but that isn’t enough. The US must be held accountable.
"The US President introduced the groups who committed acts of vandalism, arson, and murdered people as 'the Iranian nation.' He uttered an appalling slander against the Iranian people. We find the US President guilty for this slander."
After being presented with those comments, Trump doubled down, accusing Iran’s leadership of relying on violence to maintain power. “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. “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.”
Trump also launched a personal attack on Khamenei, saying, “The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people. His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”
Meanwhile, former British MP Bill Rammell told GB News that Iran may have used “toxic chemical substances” in suppressing the protests. Rammell cited what he called a “credible report” detailing severe abuse of detainees. “People believe some kind of toxic chemical substance has been used against protestors,” he said, “causing some of the injured to lose their lives days later.” Rammell told Newsweek that the information came from “credible Iranian-Kurdish sources.”
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A Tax Authority building set on fire during protests, Tehran, January 10
(Photo: Stringer/Getty Images)
In a related development, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced the arrest of what it claimed was a 32-member “spy network.” According to the ministry, the group was involved in setting fire to mosques, attacking government buildings and encouraging rioters to assault law enforcement and military targets. It also alleged that one of the detainees had visited Israel multiple times.
The Iranian regime continues to blame “rioters” for the unrest and accuses Israel and the U.S. of being behind the mass protests. An Iranian official confirmed at least 2,000 deaths, attributing them to “terrorists,” including members of the security forces.