Trump irks Iranian officials, eggs on activists

President Trump doubled down on his support for economic protesters in Tehran yesterday, saying the “entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change,” after the Iranian government condemned his “opportunist” comments amid dueling demonstrations nationwide.

“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most,” Trump wrote in a message on Twitter that was accompanied by a video of his address to the United Nations, during which he added, “This is what causes the regime to restrict internet access, tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student protesters and imprison political reformers.”

In a follow-up tweet, Trump wrote, “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!” In an attached video, Trump could be seen telling the UN, “Will they continue down the path of poverty bloodshed and terror or will the Iranian people return to the nation’s proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth, where their people can be happy and prosperous once again.”

Trump’s tweets came hours after the Iranian government condemned a similar message he posted Friday, in which he claimed Iranian citizens were “fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad.”

A state television report yesterday quoted Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, as saying that the “Iranian people give no credit to the deceitful and opportunist remarks of U.S. officials or Mr. Trump.”

The demonstrations appear to be the largest to strike the Islamic Republic since the protests that followed the country’s disputed 2009 presidential election.