U.S. President Donald Trump has, for the first time, appeared to openly signal support for an end to the rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, stopping just short of formally calling for regime change.

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told Politico, in what marks his strongest public statement yet against the Iranian leader personally.

The remarks follow a turbulent week in which Trump appeared to pull back from the possibility of U.S. military action against Iran, after the regime allegedly agreed to halt the planned execution of 800 protesters. Days earlier, Trump had warned that he would strike if the regime carried out executions, urging protesters to “take over institutions” and assuring them that “help is on its way.”

Trump’s apparent satisfaction with the regime’s move on Friday suggested that his warning referred specifically to planned executions, rather than the mass killings reported during Iran’s violent crackdown on protests, where death toll estimates have reached into the thousands. Trump had previously insisted that some of the reported deaths were the result of stampedes.

Asked about the scope of a potential military strike, Trump told Politico, “The best decision [Khamenei] ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago.”

The interview came shortly after Khamenei, 86, published a series of social media posts blaming Trump for the unrest gripping Iran.

“We find the US president guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei wrote.

Trump responded forcefully, telling Politico, “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before.”

“In order to keep the country functioning — even though that function is a very low level — the leadership should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control,” Trump said.

“Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” he added.

Trump concluded with a blunt assessment of Iran’s supreme leader: “The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people. His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)