US President Donald Trump called for an end to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's 37-year-old rule. "It's time to look for new leadership in Iran," he told Politico on Saturday after the country in the Middle East was rocked by weeks of protests against the Islamic Republic.
"The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago," Trump told the publication.
Trump argued that Iran's leadership relies on repression and violence to run the country. He blamed Khamenei for "complete destruction of the country" and for using unprecedented levels of violence.
"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," Trump said.
He added, "Leadership is about respect, not fear and death."
Calling Khamenei a "sick man", Trump said that it is because of the leadership of Iran that it is the "worst place to live anywhere".
What Ayatollah Khamenei said
Trump's remarks come soon after Khamenei vowed to "break the back of the seditionists" involved in the protest. He also blamed Trump for "casualties" during the anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
"We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals," Khamenei told supporters during an address marking a religious holiday. He said that "international criminals" would also not be spared punishment.
Iran's authorities have called the protests "terrorist" operations and "riots" and claim that it was an "American conspiracy" to dominate Iran militarily, politically and economically.
Trump had warned that if Iran killed protesters, the US would intervene militarily. He also encouraged the protesters to take over state institutions by saying, "help is on the way." However, that did not happen, and in the meantime, security forces killed at least 3,428 protesters.
What Reza Pahlavi said
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi had also urged Iranians across the country to "raise your voices in anger and protest with our national slogans". Many protesters have chanted the name of Pahlavi, whose pro-Western father fled in 1979 in the Islamic revolution.
Pahlavi, seeking to touch a nerve with Trump, called on him not to be like his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, who negotiated with Tehran. "I believe that President Trump is a man of his word and ultimately he will stand with the Iranian people as he has said," Pahlavi said when asked if Trump had given false hope.
Pahlavi told reporters that he wants to lead a transition to a secular democracy, with a popular referendum to choose the next system of government, and said, "I will return to Iran."
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