The Supreme Leader of Iran has for the first time acknowledged the deaths of thousands of protesters.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has for the first time publicly acknowledged that thousands of people lost their lives during the recent protests， and accused the United States and Israel of assisting in the killings. He claimed that Iran has evidence to support this claim.

On Saturday (January 17th), Hamayeni said during a public meeting broadcast on state television that thousands of people had been brutally and inhumantly killed by the agents. Iran has no intention of pushing the country into war, but it will not allow domestic or international criminals to go unpunished.

He also said that US President Trump should be held responsible for the casualties, losses and defamation suffered by the Iranian people, and claimed that this was a conspiracy by Washington, with the aim of annexing Iran and bringing it back under the dominance of the United States in terms of military, political and economic affairs.

On Saturday, Trump said during an interview with the US news website Politico, "It's time to find a new leadership for Iran," and called for an end to the 37-year rule of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Previously, Trump also mentioned in a Reuters interview the Iranian opposition figure, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran. He described him as "looking very nice", but expressed uncertainty about whether Pahlavi could gather sufficient support within Iran and eventually take over the government.

The Trump administration also repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily in Iran's affairs under the pretext of supporting Iranian protesters. It is reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, during a phone call with Trump this week, requested that the US suspend its military action against Iran in order to give Israel time to prepare for possible retaliatory actions. This is regarded as one of the reasons for Trump's decision to postpone giving the order for the US military to strike Iran.

However, US officials have indicated that the military operation is still under discussion, while Israeli officials believe that Trump still has the possibility of ordering the strike in the coming days.

Iran claims that the demonstrations are under control. Human rights organizations, however, say that the crackdown has resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries.

Since the end of last year, nationwide protests have occurred in various parts of Iran due to issues such as rising prices and currency devaluation. Currently, the Iranian authorities claim that the demonstrations within the country have been brought under control and social order has returned to normal.

According to Iranian media reports, local internet services have partially resumed, but hundreds of thousands of people seem to still be largely cut off from the outside world. Additionally, Iranian schools will reopen on Sunday (18th) after being closed for a week, and the originally postponed university exams will also be held in a week.

Although the authorities claimed that social order had returned to normal, Iran's use of repressive measures to quell the unrest resulted in a large number of casualties.

Iranian officials stated on Sunday that at least 5,000 people have died so far, among whom 500 were security personnel. The Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA), based in the United States, estimated that approximately 3,308 people have died, with another 4,382 cases still under investigation, and about 24,000 people have been detained.

On Saturday, thousands of people held a rally in Paris, France, to support those Iranian demonstrators who were risking their lives to demand an end to the theocratic rule.

The 23-year-old Iranian student Amir, who was protesting in Paris, said that he longed for freedom. "The downfall of this regime is inevitable. We can't live like this anymore... Suppression will not succeed, and freedom will ultimately prevail."

Analysts point out that Iran is currently experiencing the most severe political pressure in decades, but the regime has not yet faced an existential threat. Despite the continuous loss of legitimacy and governance capacity, the strong suppression capabilities still enable the authorities to gain the upper hand in the short term. However, even if the coercive measures for maintaining stability work, they will come at the cost of heavy casualties, further eroding the legitimacy of the government's governance and weakening its long-term governing resilience.