Press TV - The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s expression of support for rioters and thugs in Iran, following widespread protests against fuel price hikes in the country, is “absurd” and a plan for “regime change,” says an American political commentator.

Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute, made the remark during a Friday edition of PressTV’s The Debate program while commenting on Pompeo’s meddlesome statements regarding the recent protests in Iran.

Last Friday, the government raised Iran’s extremely cheap gasoline prices in order to moderate the national consumption rate, which stands at 110 million liters per day, 40 million liters above the maximum domestic requirement.

The government also announced a number of aid and subsidy programs to protect vulnerable households from the adverse affects of the measure.

The price reform, required by Iranian legislature and essential as US-imposed sanctions seek to deplete Iran's budgetary resources, had been long delayed due to concerns regarding the move's probable backlash.

The measure's adoption prompted initially peaceful protests, but riotous elements, abusing the situation, quickly entered the scene, destroying public property, setting ablaze banks and gas stations, among other facilities, and opening fire on people and security forces.

In meddlesome comments on Thursday, Pompeo urged Iranians to send photos and other information documenting what he called “repression,” while vowing to sanction "abuses" by the Iranian government.

“He supports some of the Iranian people, the people that are burning and blowing things up, just like he supports the people in Venezuela and Bolivia who are burning up their countries,” McAdams told Press TV on Friday.

“The idea that the US supports the people is absurd because [of] the sanctions and US aggression toward Iran; this has been ongoing since 1979 and certainly belies his statements of support for the people,” he added.

Asked why the United States is so fixated on galvanizing unrest in Iran, McAdams said it is because “that’s how you overthrow countries, you destroy a country first, the same thing is happening in Bolivia, they tried to do it in Venezuela. That’s a blueprint for regime change.”

James Jatras, former US Senate foreign policy advisor and a specialist in international relations, was the other panelist invited to The Debate, who maintained the same view that the US’s support for rioters was aimed at regime change in Iran.

“I think that the goal is regime change and they want to get there by hook or by crook,” Jatras noted.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has thrown his weight behind the government's decision to ration gasoline and increase its price.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has also hailed the people’s firm response to the recent wave of foreign-backed riots which hit several Iranian cities, voicing gratitude towards the nation for withstanding the enemies’ subversive plots despite their economic grievances.

Following Friday prayers, numerous rallies were held across Iran to condemn the recent riots. The protesters condemned the US, Israel and seditious elements for fueling the unrest and chanted slogans in support of the Islamic establishment.

Despite failed economic pressures on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States has imposed a raft of economic sanctions on Iran since it withdrew from a major international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear activity last year.

The European signatories — Britain, Germany and France — have so far failed to uphold their commitments. They have expressed vocal support for the deal, but failed to provide meaningful economic incentives as required under the nuclear agreement.