Trump expresses support for Iranian protests as regime’s hard-liners counter opposition

Just as Obama should have been president enough to have stood for the Iranian people against the mullahs. We could now have been less one major world threat. But then Obama always respected our enemies than our allies. TD

Washington Times

"President Trump voiced support Saturday for Iranians protesting in the streets against their government, saying Tehran’s oppressive regime “cannot endure forever.”

“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!”

"His comments echoed a speech that Mr. Trump gave to the United Nations last fall, in which he called on the Iranian people to return to their “proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth.”

"The president, noting numerous reports of protests by Iranians angry with the regime’s corruption and “its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad,” said the government in Tehran “should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.”

"It’s unclear what effect Mr. Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Mr. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public.

"Iranian hard-liners rallied Saturday to support the country’s supreme leader and clerically overseen government as spontaneous protests sparked by anger over the country’s ailing economy roiled major cities in the Islamic Republic."

Iran HARD-LINERS Rally as New Protests CHALLENGE Government

. . . "Early on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted out his support for the protests.

“ '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,” he wrote. “Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! (hashtag) IranProtests.”

"It’s unclear what effect Trump’s support would have. Iranians already are largely skeptical of him over his refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal. Trump’s insistence in an October speech on using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the Persian Gulf also has also riled the Iranian public." . . .