Iran’s supreme leader signaled Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters after they screamed from windows and marched through the streets overnight, directly challenging US President Donald Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television.

Protesters are “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” Khamenei said, referring to Trump. There was no immediate response from Washington, though Trump reiterated his pledge to strike Iran if protesters are killed.

The cleric-ruler called the demonstrators “vandals” and “saboteurs” in a speech broadcast on state TV.

Khamenei predicted the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran up to the 1979 revolution.

“Everyone knows the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. It will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” he added.

Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning.

Iranian state media alleged “terrorist agents” of the US and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were “casualties,” without elaborating.

The full scope of the demonstrations couldn’t be immediately determined due to the communications blackout, though it represented yet another escalation in protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy and that has morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in several years. The protests have intensified steadily since beginning on December 28.

روز دوازدهم اعتراضات: رژیم جمهوری اسلامی تاکنون دست‌کم ۳۸ نفر را کشته، بیش........

© The Times of Israel