Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a public speech on Jan. 17 that Trump is a "criminal" and responsible for the protests’ casualties due to his support for the demonstrations. That same day, the U.S. president said the country needed “new leadership" in the interview with Politico.

Top Trump administration officials met Tuesday to further refine a set of options for the president to take action against Iran amid its deadly crackdown on protesters.

The ayatollah claimed in a defiant address that "the Iranian nation has defeated America" as Trump appeared to partially back away from threats to intervene.

President Trump thanks Iran for stopping mass executions and signals a step back from earlier suggestions of possible U.S. military action as protests continue.

The country's leader criticized President Trump on Saturday, blaming him for "casualties, damages and accusations" against Iran.

Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government's deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.

Emerging on Tuesday from a late-night Situation Room meeting to discuss options for striking Iran, some of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials were relatively sure a decision on military action was close at hand.

The presser comes a day before he’s scheduled to deliver a key address to an audience of global elites and billionaires at the World Economic Forum in Davos.