After six days of unrest in Iran that has left at least 20 people dead, President Donald Trump is siding with the protesters whom Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the “enemies of Iran.”
In tweets on Monday and Tuesday morning, Trump suggested it was “TIME FOR CHANGE” in Iran and applauded the protesters for “finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime.” In his tweets, Trump also criticized former President Barack Obama for the nuclear arms treaty struck with Iran during his presidency.
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. TIME FOR CHANGE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
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. The U.S. is watching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
The protests began on Thursday in Mashhad over Iran’s economy and an uptick in the costs of food. It’s since expanded to several cities and demonstrators are beginning to aim their protest at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump has been a longtime, vocal critic of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. He has said the 2015 deal — which limits Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear arsenal in exchange for lifting sanctions against the country — the “worst deal ever negotiated” and said in October that he plans to “decertify,” but not pull out of the pact.
