Iran’s ambassador to the UK has blasted US President Donald Trump for using his Twitter page to post insult after insult against the Iranian nation, urging him to concentrate on his own people’s woes rather than interfering in other countries’ affairs.
In a post on his official Twitter account on Monday, Hamid Baeidinejad reacted to Trump’s multiple tweets over the past few days in support of the violence which has followed scattered protests against economic issues in some Iranian cities.
Trump had tweeted earlier in the day that Iranian people “are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!”
Hours later, Baeidinejad said that after insulting Iranians by calling them “terrorists,” the US President has now described them as “hungry.”
The Iranian diplomat was referring to Trump’s October remarks addressed to a gathering of social conservatives in Washington, during which he claimed that Iran was a “terrorist nation like few others.”
Baeidinejad further cited latest figures released by the nonprofit organization Feeding America, based on which 42 million people face hunger in the US.
“Very bad to remind him that 1 out of 8, meaning 42 million people, including 13 million children and 5 million seniors, are hungry in the US today,” he tweeted.
Trump after his earlier insult in calling the Iranian nation as "terrorist", has now called Iranians as "hungry for food". Very bad to remind him that 1 out of 8 meaning 42 million people including 13 million children and 5 million seniors are hungry in the US today.
— Hamid Baeidinejad (@baeidinejad) January 1, 2018
The Iranian diplomat also cited official figures showing that nearly half of power customers in Puerto Rico still lack electricity more than three months after Hurricane Maria.
“Mr. Trump should be encouraged to work harder to solve the American people’s problems rather than focusing on problems of other nations,” he tweeted.
Besides the US, Israeli officials have also reacted gleefully and voiced support for the violence.
On Thursday people in several Iranian cities, including Mashhad, held peaceful gatherings to criticize price hikes, unemployment and unauthorized credit institutions.
Shortly afterwards, those gatherings, which had been organized without official permits, changed color as a group of participants began to launch attacks on public property and armed elements showed up among ordinary people in some areas.
State media have reported over a dozen deaths as the protests turned ugly.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced on Monday that it had identified and arrested some of the agents behind the turmoil.
Responding to the situation, President Hassan Rouhani has vowed that the nation will deal with a “small and minority group” of rioters and lawbreakers exploiting the protests against economic conditions.
He has also said, “We are a free nation and based on the Constitution and citizenship rights, people are completely free to express their criticisms and even their protests,” but that the manner of doing so must result in the improvement of people’s lives and social conditions.