
US President Donald Trump has declared that it is time for new leaders to take control in Iran, after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country, facing the Islamic republic in one of the most serious threats to its legitimacy since the 1979 revolution.
"It's time to seek new leadership in Iran," Trump said in an interview with Politico.
Trump also directly attacked Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has represented the real power in the country for the last 37 years and who had previously attacked the US president on social media.
"What he [Khamenei] is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence on levels that have never been seen before," Trump said.
"To keep the country functioning — even if that functioning is at a very low level — leadership must focus on governing its country properly, as I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands to maintain control. Leadership is about respect, not fear and death," Trump said.