Khamenei Demands US Accountability As Hezbollah Alleges US-Israel Meddling In Iran Protests

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused US President Donald Trump of supporting protests in Iran and blamed demonstrators for thousands of deaths, marking his first acknowledgment of the scale of casualties from the unrest. Khamenei said restoring calm was not enough and called for the United States to be held accountable, while insisting Iran is not heading toward war. Separately, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the protests to undermine Iran, echoing Tehran’s claims of foreign interference in the unrest.