2026-01-17 21:25
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2026-01-17 21:25
US President Donald Trump told Politico on Saturday that it was time to look for new authorities in Iran. He said that Iran's leader Ali Khamenei is a “sick man” who governs his country in a bad way.
Trump called for an end to Khamenei's 37-year rule, wrote Politico. – It's time to look for new authorities in Iran – said the American leader.
“The best decision (Khamenei) ever made was not hanging over 800 people two days ago,” Trump said when asked about the scale of a potential US military operation in Iran.
As Reuters reported on Saturday, Iran's supreme spiritual and political leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, called the US president a “criminal”, accusing him of causing casualties, damage and speaking slander against Iranians.
“The latest anti-Iran subversion was different in that the US president was personally involved in it,” Khamenei said. “Individuals linked to the US and Israel led to the death of several thousand people,” the Iranian leader added.
When asked about Khamenei's criticism, Trump said that power in Tehran was based on oppression and violence. “What he is guilty of as the leader of the country is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence on a scale never seen before,” the US president added.
– To keep the country functioning, even though it is functioning at a very low level, the authorities should focus on governing the country in an appropriate way, as I do in the US, and not on killing thousands of people to maintain control, the president continued. “Power is about respect, not fear and death,” he said.
“This is a sick man who should run his country the right way and stop killing people,” Trump said. – His country is the worst place to live in the world because of its poor governance – he said.
On Tuesday, Trump encouraged Iranians to continue protests and assured that “help is on the way,” and on Wednesday he softened his message, saying he had received assurances from the authorities in Tehran that the killing of protesters would stop, as well as the executions of prisoners. On Friday, he announced that the Iranian authorities had canceled over 800 executions that were scheduled to take place in the country on Thursday, and emphasized that he greatly respected this decision.
The wave of protests in Iran began on December 28. Demonstrations – initially related to the economic situation and inflation – spread to all provinces, taking on an anti-government character. They were also aimed at Islamic clerics who have ruled Iran for 45 years. The authorities responded with brutal repression. Thousands of people died, and according to non-governmental organizations, up to 20,000 were arrested. people.
From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)
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