‘Turn your internet back on’: Trump scolds Iran over censorship amid protests

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets following Iran’s admission that its military accidentally shot down a passenger airplane outside Tehran last week. The Iranian regime originally claimed a mechanical malfunction led to the crash that killed 82 Iranian nationals and 176 people in total.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached a high point in recent weeks, following Trump’s decision to order the killing of the country’s top general, Qassem Soleimani. In response to Soleimani’s takedown, Iran launched a series of missile strikes on U.S.-Iraqi airbases in an attack that killed no Americans.

The next day, Trump announced a new series of punitive sanctions against Iran and vowed to curb their aggression in the Middle East.

Under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom the protesters are calling on to step down, the Iranian government has censored state-run television and restricted access to independent internet service and social media platforms.

“Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free!” Trump demanded. “Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!”

Trump later retweeted the same tweet in Farsi. The president’s message to Iranians tweeted in Farsi a day earlier became the most liked Persian tweet in Twitter history.