Iran’s Khamenei says US, Israel links behind ‘thousands killed’ in protests

Iran's supreme leader has made a rare acknowledgement that thousands of people have been killed in recent protests. But he's accusing the United States and Israel of being responsible for the violence. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called US President Donald Trump a criminal and says he will not let his country be dragged into war. Meanwhile, it's still difficult to get in touch with people inside Iran. The internet and phone services have been mostly cut for more than a week. Authorities have restored access to domestic text messaging, but international calls and texts are still down. Only local websites can be accessed. The government shut down communication networks on January 8, to stop protesters from organising. Iranian media reports at least 3,000 people involved in anti-government demonstrations have been arrested. Tehran's public prosecutor has hit back at Donald Trump. That's after the US President said Iran had halted 800 executions after facing pressure from Washington. Ali Salehi rejected the claim, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar is monitoring developments from Tehran, through a satellite link. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://x.com/ajenglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Iran #IranProtests #IranUnrest #IranCrisis #TehranProtests #IranEconomy #IranHumanRights #AyatollahAliKhamenei #MasoudPezeshkian #AbbasAraghchi #IranEconomicCrisis #AntigovernmentProtests #USIranTensions #IranSanctions #DonaldTrump #AlJazeeraEnglish