Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

President Donald Trump weighed in on growing anti-government protests in Iran again Sunday, blaming the regime’s ‘squandering’ of its funds on terrorism abroad for the riots and subsequent government crackdown that left several dead.

Late Saturday night, Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya network reported that at least three protesters had been killed by government forces in Doroud, in Iran’s Loerstan province.

According to Fars, seventy students protested at Tehran University, throwing rocks at local police and chanting "Death to the dictator."

Reuters reported that protesters elsewhere in Tehran had also been arrested, and in the western towns of Shahr-e Kord and Dorud, Iranian authorities used tear gas to counter the protesters.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the protests, and called on Tehran to “rest their people’s rights, including right to express themselves.”

A day later, the Iranian government blocked access to popular social media outlets, including the video and image sharing website, Instagram, and instant messaging services like Telegram, The Associated Press reported.

Iranian protests
Iranian protestsReuters

“Iranian authorities are blocking access to Telegram for the majority of Iranians after our public refusal to shut down ... peacefully protesting channels,” wrote Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

Iran’s state news website, Iribnews.ir, confirmed that access had been blocked.

“With a decision by the Supreme National Security Council, activities of Telegram and Instagram are temporarily limited.”

President responded to the deaths of protesters and the limitations imposed on access to social media sites, warning that the US would be “watching very closely” for any human rights violations.

“Big protests in Iran,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!”

The protests began last Thursday in the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, when demonstrators gathered to protest ongoing high unemployment levels and high prices for consumer goods, despite promises of reform by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Protesters chanted “Death to Rouhani” and “Death to the dictator”, and appeared to link Iran’s domestic economic woes to its spending abroad on terror groups like Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran,” some protesters shouted.

The recent protests are the largest since demonstrators took to the streets following the country’s disputed 2009 presidential election.