Tipsheet

Trump to Iran: US Is Watching

President Trump on Tuesday tweeted about the uprisings taking place in Iran, saying the United States is watching.

“The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights,” he tweeted. “The U.S. is watching!”

The Trump administration has publicly stated it supports the right of protesters to demonstrate peacefully against the Iranian government, and the president himself has weighed in on the uprisings several times over the past few days.

On New Year’s Day, he said it’s “time for change,” writing that the Iranian people “have been repressed for many years.”

“Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted,” he said Monday. “TIME FOR CHANGE!”

He also said the U.S. is looking out for human rights abuses.

“Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!” he wrote on New Year’s Eve. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday reportedly placed the blame for the protests on Tehran’s enemies, Reuters reports.

“In recent days, enemies of Iran used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic,” he said.

While Khamenei did not single out who Iran’s enemies are, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia as being behind the riots, according to Reuters