Trump calls Khamenei a ‘sick man,’ says his rule over Iran must end

After reviewing what he described as hostile social media posts by the supreme leader, Trump accused Khamenei personally of destroying the country.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President Donald Trump on Saturday said Iran’s supreme leader should no longer be in power, calling Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “a sick man” and declaring that Iran needs new leadership, Politico reports.

“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

Trump said Iran’s rulers maintain control through repression and extreme violence, responding to recent statements by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that blamed Trump for deaths during Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests.

After reviewing what he described as hostile social media posts by the supreme leader, Trump accused Khamenei personally of destroying the country.

“What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said. “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 effective leadership is incompatible with fear and mass violence. “Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” he said.

Trump went further, appearing for the first time to directly question Khamenei’s continued rule. “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” he said. The statement marked Trump’s sharpest language to date directed at the supreme leader himself, rather than at Iran’s political system more broadly.

The comments came after Khamenei accused Trump of inciting unrest in Iran and labeled him a criminal over protest-related deaths.

In a televised address earlier Saturday on state television, the Iranian leader acknowledged for the first time that the demonstrations had resulted in several thousand fatalities and called on authorities to crush what he described as “sedition.”

Trump’s remarks also followed a shift in his own posture toward Tehran.

On Friday, he indicated he had stepped back from the idea of striking Iran after the regime allegedly agreed to cancel the planned executions of 800 protesters.

Days earlier, Trump had warned Iran against killing protesters, urged demonstrators to “take over institutions,” and said “help is on its way.”