Iran slams Trump’s tweet supporting peaceful protests as ‘deceitful’

Iran’s government attacked President Trump on Saturday for tweeting his support for Iranian protesters, calling the president’s remarks “deceitful” in an official statement from the foreign ministry.

In a statement Saturday afternoon, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, was quoted on state television as saying that “Iranian people give no credit to the deceitful and opportunist remarks of U.S. officials or Mr. Trump,” according to The Associated Press.

The statement comes hours after Trump tweeted his support for “peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption.”

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“Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests,” Trump tweeted Friday night, mirroring a statement the White House also released Friday attributed to the press secretary.

Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Tehran and elsewhere in the country to protest the Iranian government. Photos and video from the protests show women removing their hijabs in protest.

One of the iconic photos of yesterday’s protest was a young woman with her compulsory hejab on a stick…
What a wondrous site. Viva the protesting people of Iran. Long Live! pic.twitter.com/146HPg4Sna

— Maryam Namazie (@MaryamNamazie) December 29, 2017

Protesters in the country’s capital swarmed the streets Friday and Saturday chanting “death to Rouhani,” referring to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, and “death to the dictator,” referring apparently to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei has controlled Iran since the 1980s, after an Islamic revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed monarch Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.