Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly acknowledged for the first time that thousands of people have been killed in the country's recent protests.
BBC has reported this.
Khamenei said that thousands of people were killed, "some in an inhuman, savage manner". He blamed the United States for their deaths.
"Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousand. We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said.
During his speech on Saturday, Khamenei also said that Iran considers President Trump a "criminal" and that the United States should be "held accountable" for the recent unrest. He also said on social media that "America's goal is to swallow Iran."
According to the US-based non-governmental organization Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), the violent response to the unrest has claimed the lives of 3,090 people, with some activist groups citing much higher numbers.
In addition, the blocking of the Internet has made it much harder to get clear information. According to NetBlocks, a cyber monitoring service, the overall level of network connectivity was about 2% of normal on Saturday.
We would like to add that SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has temporarily canceled the fee for using the satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran. This allows terminal owners in the country to connect to the network without paying for the service.
US President Donald Trump recently called on Iranian demonstrators to "keep protesting" and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.
The protests, which began on December 28 over the economic situation, have escalated into calls for the end of the rule of Iran's supreme leader. The Iranian government called the demonstrations "unrest" supported by Iran's enemies.
Protesters have clashed with security forces, and video footage of security forces firing on demonstrators has been confirmed by BBC Persian and BBC Verify.
In recent days, there have been fewer reports of unrest, but the situation on the ground remains unclear due to limited internet access.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, US President Donald Trump said that he made the decision not to strike Iran on his own.
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