Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of instigating the recent events related to the protests in Iran, warning that “the enemies of the country” have blocked all avenues and are preventing the completion of deals, according to him.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Pezeshkian was quoted as saying during a meeting with a group of intellectuals, political, social, and cultural activists in Golestan Province, northern Iran, that the protesting youth in Iran are not responsible for what happened. He considered the shortcoming to lie with officials for failing to provide them with adequate education and sufficient job opportunities.

He added that “the enemy and the Zionists exploited the events in the country and contributed to creating and exacerbating the problems.”

Pezeshkian called on citizens to work on healing the “wounds” after the bloody unrest that swept the country, saying, “These were bitter wounds, but they must be bandaged, not deepened to the point of infection.”

He explained that it is now essential to look forward and reconcile, instead of continuing to argue and leaving the country to “foreign enemies.”

According to official statistics, more than 3,000 people were killed in the violence between the end of December and the beginning of January, while the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimated the death toll at more than 7,000 in its latest report.

A wave of widespread protests erupted in Iran late last year, fueled by a sharp deterioration in economic and living conditions, particularly the collapse of the local currency and soaring inflation and unemployment rates.

This comes at a time of escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington, following the arrival of a US aircraft carrier and accompanying warships in the region, after repeated threats from President Trump to intervene over the crackdown on protests in Iran.