Dubai | Iran's foreign minister alleged on Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for US President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after activists reported more than 500 have been killed — the vast majority of them demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.