Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned US President Donald Trump, advising him to focus on the problems within his own country rather than commenting on Iran.
Khamenei’s remarks come amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington. Addressing the public on Friday, Khamenei called Trump ‘arrogant’, and alleged that his hands were ‘stained with the blood of’ Iranians. Khamenei further claimed that the US President would be ‘overthrown’.
Iran’s Supreme Leader further said protestors are ‘ruining their own streets to make the President of another country happy’. Trump had earlier threatened the Iranian government over the crackdown on protestors.
Iran Cut Off from World as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Warns Protesters
Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday (January 9, 2026) after authorities blacked out the internet to curb expanding protests, with phone calls not reaching the country, flights cancelled and online Iranian news sites only intermittently updating.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump, saying rioters were attacking public properties and warning that Tehran would not tolerate people acting as “mercenaries for foreigners”.
Fires Raging in Iranian Cities
The images published by state television overnight showed what it said were burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at metro stations and banks. It accused the People’s Mujahedin Organisation, an opposition faction that splintered off after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and also known as the MKO, of being behind the unrest.
A state television journalist standing in front of the fires on Shariati Street in the Caspian Sea port of Rasht said “this looks like a war zone — all the shops have been destroyed”.
Iran’s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests on Friday (January 9, 2026) with Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late ruling shah, telling Iranians in a social media post: “The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.”
Mr. Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and who last week warned Tehran it could come to the protesters’ aid, said on Friday (January 9, 2026) he would not meet Pahlavi and was “not sure that it would be appropriate” to back him.
Iran has quelled far bigger bouts of unrest before, but it now faces a graver economic situation and intensifying international pressure with global sanctions over its nuclear programme reimposed since September.
Khamenei Addresses Trump
“Last night in Tehran, a bunch of vandals and rioters came and destroyed a building that belonged to the state, to the people themselves, just to please the heart of the president of the United States,” Mr. Khamenei said, urging Mr. Trump to “manage your own country”.
While the initial protests were focused on the economy, with the rial currency losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have morphed to include slogans directly against the authorities.
Protesters have chanted slogans including “Death to the dictator” and praising the former monarchy that was toppled in 1979. The extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or for the MKO, the most vocal groups among émigré Iranians, is disputed.
