Paris (France) (AFP) - Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday that authorities “must break the back of the seditionists”, blaming US President Donald Trump for “casualties” after a deadly crackdown on protests against the country’s clerical leadership.

Iran was rocked by weeks of demonstrations sparked by anger over economic hardship that exploded into the biggest protests against the Islamic republic in more than three years.

But demonstrations have subsided after the crackdown that rights groups say left thousands of people dead under an internet blackout that lasted more than a week.

Authorities have said demonstrations they condemn as “riots” had been controlled and calm returned, with state-aligned media reporting thousands of arrests and officials vowing swift punishment for those detained.

“By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition,” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told supporters during an address broadcast by state television.

“We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals,” he added, saying “international criminals” were “worse” and would also not be spared punishment.

Mass protests challenging authorities that erupted in 2022 were also branded sedition, an accusation rights groups said the authorities used to violently suppress dissent.

Iranian authorities have blamed the latest wave of demonstrations on arch-foes the United States and Israel, saying they fuelled a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful protests over the economy.

Trump, who backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed.

- ‘American conspiracy’ -

Khamenei on Saturday lashed out at Trump, accusing him of being “guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation”.

“This was an American conspiracy,” he said, adding that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran… the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination”.

While Washington has appeared to have stepped back, the US president has said he has not ruled out military options and made clear he was keeping a close eye on whether any protesters were executed.

Trump wrote on Friday on his Truth Social platform that Iran had called off the executions of hundreds of protesters and said to the clerical state: “Thank you!”

Asked on state TV about Trump’s comment, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said the US president “always talks a lot of nonsense” and that the government’s response had been “firm, dissuasive and swift” with many cases leading to indictments and sent to court.

Rights groups have estimated up to 20,000 people have been arrested. Security officials cited by the Tasnim news agency on Friday said around 3,000 people were arrested.

Alarm has mounted over the reported death toll during the crackdown, as verifying cases remains difficult under severe internet restrictions.

Eyewitnesses who left Iran after the protests told AFP of coming under fire and hearing numerous gunshots during protests.

Kiarash, who gave only his first name for security reasons, was fired on during protests on January 10 and said he saw thousands of bodies at a mortuary in Tehran.

“I saw the blood… Thousands of people and thousands of dead bodies” of people “asking for their rights”, he told AFP from Germany.

- Pahlavi calls for protests -

Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says 3,428 protesters have been verified to have been killed by security forces, but warns the actual toll could be several times higher.

Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 – and possibly as high as 20,000, IHR said.

The opposition Iran International channel based outside the country has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources.

Monitor Netblocks said on Saturday that internet connectivity in Iran rose “very” slightly, more than 200 hours into the nationwide internet shutdown.

People in Iran were reportedly again able to send text messages within the country and to outside numbers but were still often unable to receive texts from those abroad.

Rights groups say there have been no verifiable reports of protests in recent days and videos circulating on social media have shown a heavy security presence in some areas.

But Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the shah ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, took to social media on Friday to call for Iranians to protest again on Saturday and Sunday evening.

Protesters have chanted the name of Pahlavi, who had called again on Trump to intervene in Iran.

Protests have continued outside Iran in multiple countries, with more held in Germany and France on Saturday.