Trump Calls for New Leadership in Iran

President Donald Trump has called for regime change in Iran in the wake of protests that have engulfed the country in recent weeks.

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told Politico in an interview on Jan. 17.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s comments were made after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged on Jan. 17 that “several thousand” Iranians had been killed during more than two weeks of unrest in the country.

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Khamenei made no mention of the aggressive use of deadly force by Iran’s security services in quelling the protests, instead blaming the deaths on Trump, whom he accused of “encouraging” protesters by promising them “military support.”

In a speech televised nationwide and described on his official X account, Khamenei called Trump “guilty” of “both the casualties and the damage” during the protests, which broke out in late December 2025. The demonstrations were initially sparked by public anger over Iran’s dire economic conditions before escalating into calls for an end to the Islamic Republic.

Khamenei declared that the regime in Tehran had “extinguished the fire of sedition,” a claim amplified by Iran’s state-owned media. Recently, there have been fewer reports of unrest, but a near-total shutdown of the internet and other communication services makes it difficult to know what is happening on the ground.

On Jan. 17, overall connectivity remained at about 2 percent of normal levels, according to cyber watchdog NetBlocks.

Trump condemned Khamenei and the Islamic regime in his interview with Politico, calling Iran “the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

“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.

Earlier this week, Trump urged Iranians to “take over” government institutions and keep their protests going, telling them that “help is on its way.”

On Jan. 16, he posted on Truth Social, “I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran.”

The comment was made after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there was no plan for the regime to carry out mass executions.

In the Politico interview, when asked about the size of a possible U.S. military operation in Iran, Trump said, “The best decision [Khamenei] ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago.”

As of Jan. 17, the clampdown on unrest has left at least 3,300 people dead, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The actual number is feared to be much higher. The agency has also reported more than 24,000 arrests. In the absence of an official government tally, the agency stated that it relies on supporters inside Iran to cross-check information.