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Trump seeks to take advantage of riots in Iran: Scholar

This file photo taken on December 18, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump speaking on his national security strategy at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump is the greatest enemy of Muslims and the Iranian people and is determined to destroy the Islamic Republic’s economy, despite his support for the recent protests in Iran, an American scholar says.

“It’s hard for me to imagine how anybody in Iran could think that Trump would be their friend; this is a man who was elected president on a wave of Islamophobia that he stoked so badly,” said Kevin Barrett, an author and political commentator in Madison, Wisconsin.

“This guy is really public enemy No. 1 for everyone who’s Muslim,” Barrett told Press TV on Monday.

“He’s [Trump] taking the side of these Iran protests, so that would lead one to believe that these protests may include an element of people who are trying to destabilize Iran,” he added.

Iranian officials say Trump’s support for rioters in Iran shows Washington's scheme to hatch a new act of sedition against the Islamic Republic.

Since Thursday, groups of Iranian protesters have staged protests in several cities to voice their anger over rising prices and economic conditions. Sporadic violence has erupted during the protests causing a number of deaths.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday the Iranian people would deal with a "small and minority group" of rioters and lawbreakers exploiting the protests against economic conditions in a number of Iranian cities in recent days.

Addressing a Cabinet session on Sunday, Rouhani said the Iranian people were completely free to express their criticism of the government or stage protests according to the Constitution and citizenship rights, and in a way that would lead to the improvement of the country's conditions.

“People in Iran should be very, very careful because Trump and the others who want to take advantage of these situations are not interested in improving the Iranian economy; they’re interested in destroying Iran,” Barrett said.

“Anybody in Iran who doesn’t know this is incredibly naïve and perhaps paying too much attention to the propaganda put out by Zionists…and other enemies of Iran,” he added.


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