Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday accused the U.S., Israel and Europe of exploiting Iran’s economic crisis to incite unrest and “tear the nation apart,” following nationwide protests over soaring inflation and rising living costs.

U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and European leaders “provoke, create division, and supplied resources, drawing some innocent people into this movement,” Pezeshkian said in a state TV broadcast, according to media reports.

Pezeshkian added that the unrest was not merely a social protest but a coordinated effort to sow division. “Everyone knows that the issue was not just a social protest,” he said.

The protests, which erupted at the end of 2025 after a sharp decline of the Iranian economy, were met with an increasingly brutal government crackdown, including mass arrests, killings, and a near-total internet shutdown. Rights organizations say thousands have been killed or detained. The U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency session, noting that the violence against protesters in recent weeks is the deadliest since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

In Washington, Trump has repeatedly promised the protesters that “help is on the way,” while Israeli forces have increased their regional presence. In recent weeks, Trump has advocated for “new leadership” in Iran and warned of potential military action in response to the crackdown.

The European Union on Thursday designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization following the crackdown. “Repression cannot go unanswered,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

“The EU already has sweeping sanctions in place on Iran — on those responsible for human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and Tehran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine — and I am prepared to propose additional sanctions in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protesters,” she told POLITICO earlier this month.