Trump reiterated the statement during an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday and said that if the regime forces were to kill protesters, "they will be hit very hard." The remark was posted on the State Department's Farsi feed.
The Iranian leader dismissed Trump's statements, saying that the U.S. president's hands were "stained with the blood of Iranians" as supporters shouted "Death to America!" in footage aired on Iranian state TV, according to Khamenei said that Iranian protesters were "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy," referring to Trump.
Short videos purportedly showing protests against the regime still circulated before the blackout cut the nation from the internet and international calls, according to the AP. The outlet noted that the videos appeared to show protesters chanting against the Iranian regime around bonfires as debris littered the streets in Tehran and other areas in the country. Iranian state media claimed "terrorist agents" from the U.S. and Israel set the fires and sparked the violence, the AP reported.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, called for the protests on Thursday night. Pahlavi said on X that he was proud of all those who demonstrated against the regime on Thursday night.
"I am proud of each and every one of you who took over the streets across Iran on Thursday night... You saw how the massive crowds forced the repressive forces to retreat," Pahlavi said. "Those of you who were hesitant, join your fellow compatriots on Friday night."
Pahlavi encouraged protests on Friday to be even larger than the ones that took place the night before, saying it would further weaken the Islamic Republic's regime. He also expressed his faith that the people in the streets would not give up in the face of internet blackouts, assuring the protesters that the victory belonged to them.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Emma Bussey contributed to this report.