Iran accuses Trump of trying to turn citizens against regime
Iran’s supreme leader has accused the United States and allies of fomenting unrest in Iran.
State TV yesterday quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying the US had formed a coalition with other regional countries but that it was unable to defeat Iran.
Ayatollah Khamenei did not name any specific nations in the so-called coalition but alleged it was imposing economic pressure on Iran to “separate the nation from the system”.
He said: “If the US was able to overpower the Islamic system, it would not have needed to form a coalition with notorious countries of the region to create chaos, unrest and insecurity in Iran.”
US President Donald Trump, after withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, has ramped up pressure on Washington’s allies to cut off purchases of Iranian oil, which accounts for 60 per cent of the Islamic republic’s income.
Last week, online videos showed police firing tear gas at protesters angered by Iran’s creaking economy. It was the first such confrontation after similar demonstrations rocked the country at the start of the year.
The leader of Friday prayers in Tehran called for calm and fortitude after days of protests by the capital’s Grand Bazaar traders fuming over the plunging value of Iran’s currency and rising prices, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Three days of protests in Tehran and other cities began last Sunday when hundreds of traders in the bazaar – the hub of merchants who backed Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the longtime monarch – closed their shops to voice anger at the currency’s loss of value.
Washington has ramped up pressure on allies to stop buying Iranian oil, which generates 60 per cent of Tehran’s income
Iran’s rial has lost 40 per cent of its value since Mr Trump’s decision on May 8 to pull the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimpose tough economic sanctions on Tehran.
The protests resembled nationwide demonstrations in January that were originally sparked by economic hardships but turned political. However, the protests earlier this year took place largely in Iran’s provinces rather than in Tehran.
Most international sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted in early 2016 under the nuclear deal in which Iran curbed its disputed nuclear programme under close UN monitoring.