The Latest: Trump tweets more support for Iran's protesters

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Latest on protests in Iran (all times local):

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In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, a university student attends a protest inside Tehran University while a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, a university student attends a protest inside Tehran University while a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, anti-riot Iranian police prevent university students to join other protesters over Iran weak economy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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APImages.com

In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, university students attend a protest inside Tehran University while anti-riot Iranian police prevent them to join other protestors, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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APImages.com

In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, university students attend a protest inside Tehran University while a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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APImages.com

This photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, demonstrators attend a protest over Iran's weak economy, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment. (AP Photo)

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5:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is again cheering on the protesters in Iran, saying: "The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism."

Trump tweeted Sunday that it looks like the Iranians "will not take it any longer." And he adds: "The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!"

Trump's tweets the previous day angered Iran's government, leading the Foreign Ministry spokesman to say the "Iranian people give no credit to the deceitful and opportunist remarks of U.S. officials or Mr. Trump."

A wave of economic protests is sweeping major cities in Iran. The first deaths occurred overnight when two protesters were killed during clashes at a rally in Doroud

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4:30 p.m.

Iran state TV is reporting that authorities have blocked Instagram and the messaging app Telegram.

State TV's website reported the decision Sunday, citing an anonymous source who said it was "in line with maintaining peace and security of the citizens."

The source said: "With a decision by the Supreme National Security Council, activities of Telegram and Instagram are temporarily limited."

Telegram's CEO previously said the app had been blocked for the majority of Iranians.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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3:45 p.m.

The CEO of Telegram says Iran is "blocking access ... for the majority of Iranians" after protesters used the popular messaging app to plan and publicize demonstrations.

CEO Pavel Durov made the announcement on Twitter Sunday.

Iranians said the app is now inaccessible by mobile phone networks.

The Telegram app has been used to share videos of the protests, the largest since 2009, and times for new rallies.

Users said Sunday that they could no longer access the app via cellphone networks, though it was still available via Wifi and home internet connections.

Iranian media also reported the disruption.

The Iranian government did not immediately comment.

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10 a.m.

A semi-official news agency in Iran has quoted a government official as saying two protesters were killed at a rally overnight.

The Mehr news agency reported Sunday that the two protesters were killed in Doroud, in Iran's Lorestan province.

Mehr quoted Habibollah Khojastepour, the security deputy of Lorestan's governor, as saying an illegal gathering in Doroud took place on Saturday night and ignited clashes.

He said "two of our dear Doroudi citizens were killed," without elaborating on the cause of death.

Protests in Iran began Thursday in Mashhad over economic issues. The protests have expanded to cities across the Islamic Republic in the days since.

Dozens have been arrested since the protests began.

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