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When President Donald Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on its way,” they took heart. Their hopes rose further on Wednesday, with news that the Pentagon had ordered some non-essential personnel from its largest Middle East air base, a move seen as preparation for battle. But on Thursday, when Trump reversed course, announcing that Iran’s regime had agreed to stop killing its people in the streets, protestors felt betrayed, they told TIME.
“He’s not only yellow on the outside, he’s also yellow inside,” said an arts teacher in Tehran.
“After he said the Iranian authorities had told him there won’t be any more killings and executions, everyone was just stunned,” said an Iranian interviewed Friday, after traveling out of the country. “Everyone was enraged; they just kept saying this bastard used us as cannon fodder. Iranians feel that they were played, that he fooled them, deceived them.”
Read more: What’s Happening in Iran Right Now, Explained
“Trump is worse than Obama,” said a 40-year-old businessman in Tehran, who said he called friends and relatives to give them the good news after Trump’s “help is on its way” post. “He screwed up. He pulled the rug from under our feet.”
The interviews were conducted after Trump appeared to back down from carrying out long-threatened military action against Iran this week. But the President added to the uncertainty again on Saturday by calling for an end to the rule of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” he told POLITICO, after reportedly reading a series of posts from the Iranian leader blaming Trump for the deaths of protesters. “The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” he added.
His comments may not be enough to bring protesters back out onto the streets, however. Trump, who ordered the U.S. military to join Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear program in June, had urged on the latest…
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