Khamenei Admits Thousands Killed in Protests, 16,500 Dead, Blames Trump

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has broken his silence on the deadly nationwide protests, admitting for the first time that thousands have perished in the crackdown.

Yet in a stunning deflection, he pins the blame squarely on President Donald Trump, calling him a criminal who encouraged the unrest by promising U.S. military support to demonstrators.

Khamenei stated in his televised address that protesters were "foot-soldiers of the U.S." and falsely claimed they were armed with imported live ammunition.

"We consider the US president a criminal for the casualties, damages, and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," he declared, according to translations from Iranian state media and reports by CNN, Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera.

The supreme leader added that "those linked to Israel and the U.S. caused massive damage and killed several thousand."

Independent sources paint a far different picture.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency verified 3,919 deaths as of day 22 of the protests, with 8,949 additional deaths under investigation, 2,109 severely injured, and 24,669 detainees.

An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that authorities confirmed at least 5,000 deaths, including about 500 security personnel.

A report compiled by doctors inside Iran and reviewed by The Sunday Times estimates security forces killed at least 16,500 protesters and injured more than 330,000 others, describing the violence as "genocide under the cover of digital darkness."

Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon, said in the report, "This is a whole new level of brutality," noting doctors are "shocked and crying" and that more than 800 eye removals occurred in one night in Tehran alone, with possibly more than 8,000 blinded nationwide.

Eyewitnesses reported snipers targeting heads, mass shootings, and systematic blinding with pellet guns.

The regime imposed a near-total internet shutdown starting January 8, with only limited restoration, while state TV channels were briefly hacked to air anti-regime footage and messages from exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urging security forces to join protesters.

Khamenei warned of consequences for participants and signaled possible executions for some detainees.

Executions surged, with 153 hangings in the first 18 days of January 2026, according to Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, who told Fox News Digital, "Ali Khamenei is continuing mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters," adding, "Three executions in the form of hanging are now happening every hour according to our data."

President Trump condemned the violence, calling Khamenei a "sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people" and urging new leadership in Iran.

Trump nearly ordered military strikes on January 15 but pulled back after lobbying from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited Israel's unreadiness, and Gulf states fearing proxy retaliation.

A backchannel message from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly committed to halting killings and executions.

The protests, ignited by economic collapse and an 80 percent currency devaluation, evolved into calls for regime change with chants of "No Mullahs, No Shah."

Analysts describe this as an existential crisis for the Islamic Republic.

The ayatollah's regime is hemorrhaging legitimacy with every bullet fired into its own youth.

Khamenei can scream "Trump made me do it" until the mullahs' minarets crumble, but the bloodstains on Tehran's streets belong to the butchers in Qom and Tehran, not the White House.