Tehran’s Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami called for the execution of detained protesters and the arrest of anyone who supported the protests, delivering the remarks during his Friday sermon.
Khatami, a hardline cleric appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader, accused protesters of acting on behalf of foreign powers, calling them “servants" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "soldiers of Trump."
“They should await a harsh retaliation from the government. Americans and Zionists should not expect peace,” Khatami said. “The demonstrators were servants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and soldiers of Trump.”
“I say this clearly: the police and armed forces helped, but this time it was you, the people, who brought this matter to an end once again,” Khatami added. “You were present in the field and you must remain present.”
“These fools imagined they could break the country apart. As long as one Iranian is alive, no one will allow even an inch of this land to be lost,” Khatami said. “These savages did things that even the Mongols could not do, but they failed.”
US President Donald Trump said on Friday authorities in Iran stopped what he called a planned execution of more than 800 protestors.
Asked if Arab and Israeli officials convinced him to not strike Iran, President Trump told reporters, "Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself. You had, yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact."
