President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, threatening military intervention if the regime continues to violently suppress protesters who have taken to the streets across more than 30 cities in the country's most significant wave of demonstrations since 2022.
"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump declared on his Truth Social platform, signaling a potentially dramatic escalation in US-Iran tensions.
The protests, which began when shopkeepers in Tehran went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, have rapidly spread throughout the country. Iran's currency, the rial, has plummeted to historic lows, with $1 now costing approximately 1.4 million rials—a collapse that has devastated ordinary Iranians and sparked widespread anger.
At least seven people have been reported killed during clashes between protesters and security forces, including both demonstrators and members of Iran's security services. Iran's Fars news agency reported that two people were killed in Lordegan and three in Azna during violent confrontations.
Iranian officials have responded to Trump's threats with defiance. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, issued a direct warning that "all American centers and forces across the entire region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential actions." Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cautioned that "any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut."
Ali Larijani alleged on social media that Israel and the United States were stoking the demonstrations, though he provided no evidence to support this claim. The Iranian government has deployed its standard response to dissent: lethal force, mass arbitrary arrests, and internet blackouts designed to stifle communication among protesters.
Trump's threat has created what Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group describes as a "stark strategic dilemma" for Washington. "If the US fails to follow through, it risks emboldening the regime and discouraging future dissent, yet meaningful intervention could escalate into a broader conflict with unpredictable consequences," Vaez warned.
The warning has also drawn criticism from within Trump's own party. Outgoing Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed the president's threat to intervene, highlighting divisions within the Republican Party over the appropriate US response to the Iranian crisis.
Supporters of the Iranian opposition have held rallies in Sweden and Norway to show solidarity with the protesters, even as the Islamic Republic's security apparatus works to crush the demonstrations. The economic crisis driving the unrest shows no signs of abating, suggesting the protests may continue to intensify in the coming days.
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