Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a defiant televised address targeting both domestic protesters and U.S. President Donald Trump.
His speech came as Iran faced a nationwide internet blackout amid the largest wave of unrest in three years.
Khamenei claimed that “a bunch of vandals and rioters” destroyed a state building in Tehran the previous night specifically “to please the heart of the president of the United States”.
Trump ‘WILL BE OVERTHROWN’ — Khamenei
Says ‘Tyrants’ usually overthrown ‘at peak of their arrogance’ https://t.co/lQRmy3E123 pic.twitter.com/9kEjC3QTQB
— RT (@RT_com) January 9, 2026
He urged Trump to stop interfering in Iranian affairs and instead “manage your own country” and its internal problems.
Khamenei asserted that Trump’s hands are “stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians,” likely referring to U.S.-supported strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and military leaders in June 2025.
Comparing Trump to historical figures like Pharaoh and the deposed Pahlavi dynasty, Khamenei predicted the “arrogant” U.S. leader would be “overthrown”.
While acknowledging economic grievances like soaring inflation and currency collapse, he labeled active protesters as “saboteurs” and “mercenaries” for foreign powers, vowing that the Islamic Republic would not back down.
Prior to the speech, President Trump warned on social media and in interviews that the U.S. was “locked and loaded” to intervene if Iranian security forces began “violently killing peaceful protesters”.
Reports and videos emerged showing demonstrators in cities like Tehran and Yazdanshahr appealing directly to Trump for help and symbolically renaming a street after him.
Rights groups reported at least 35 to 36 deaths since the protests began on December 28, 2025, sparked by rising food prices and corruption.
