In first, Trump appears to call for end of ‘sick man’ Khamenei’s rule in Iran

In interview, US president says ‘best decision’ Iranian supreme leader ever made was not hanging political dissidents, calls Iran ‘worst place to live anywhere in the world’

US President Donald Trump, for the first time, appeared to call on Saturday for the end of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule in Iran.

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told Politico.

The comments are the closest Trump has come yet to calling for regime change in Iran, though he seemed to direct his ire in the interview at the supreme leader personally, and not at the broader Islamic Republic system.

The US president’s remarks come after he indicated on Friday that he had moved away from the idea of striking Iran, after the regime had allegedly agreed to cancel the planned executions of 800 protesters.

Days earlier, Trump had threatened to strike if Iran killed protesters, urging the latter group to “take over institutions” and assuring that “help is on its way.”

But his satisfaction with the regime’s move on Friday suggested that his threat regarding protester deaths only referred to planned executions, and not killings that reportedly took place during the regime’s crackdown on the demonstrations, where the death count was said to be in the thousands. Trump had insisted some of those deaths were caused by stampedes.

In a speech broadcast by state television to mark a religious holiday, Khamenei on Saturday said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead — the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began December 28.

Asked about the scope of a potential military strike in Iran, Trump told Politico on Saturday that “the best decision [Khamenei] ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago.”

Trump spoke to Politico shortly after Khamenei, 86, posted a series of tweets blaming the US president for the unrest in Iran.

“We find the US president guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei wrote.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly blamed the US for the mass demonstrations they have called “riots” and “terrorist” operations.

Responding to the posts, Trump told Politico: “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.”

“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,” the US president said.

“Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” Trump added.

“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

Iran has returned to an uneasy calm after harsh repression of protests that began on December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy, and exploded into a mass movement demanding the country’s clerical regime be dismantled.

The crackdown, carried out under an internet blackout, has left at least 3,090 people dead, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The toll, which cannot be independently verified, exceeded that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalled the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution that heralded the Islamic Republic.

Pezeshkian thanks Putin

In the wake of the recent protests, the office of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he thanked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday for Moscow’s support at the United Nations.

In a phone call the day after the protests were discussed at the UN Security Council, Pezeshkian thanked Putin for “Russia’s position,” adding that “the role and direct involvement of the United States and the Zionist regime in recent events in Iran is evident,” a reference to Israel.

At Thursday’s UN Security Council session in New York, Russia’s UN ambassador accused the United States of “stoking tensions and fueling hysteria” in relation to the protests in Iran.