American President Donald Trump on Saturday said the U.S. is ready to support Iran to get freedom amid protests sweeping through the Islamic Republic since December 28.

Mr Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said, “Iran is looking at freedom, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

The American president’s statement followed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s post on social media, announcing U.S. support for Iranian protesters.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Mr Rubio posted on Saturday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for over three decades, in a televised speech in Tehran on Friday, dismissed lingering protests sparked by economic crisis in the country as schemes by vandals trying to please Mr Trump.  

“There are people whose job is only about destruction,” Mr Khamenei said, adding his government “will not back down” in the face of protests.  

Berating Mr Trump, Mr Khamenei, 86, said, “Last night in Tehran and in some other places, a group of vandals came and damaged buildings belonging to their own country just to please the president of the United States.”

The nationwide protests sparked by the economic crisis have lingered for 14 days, with at least 65 killed and over 2,000 arrested amid an internet blackout and brutal clampdown by security forces.

Amid Iran’s staggering inflation, at 42 per cent, and its currency, the rial, plummeting to an all-time low of 1.4 million rials per dollar, merchants, traders, and university students hit the streets, disrupting commercial and public activities.