Trump Warns Iran Against Killing Protesters
Trump Warns Iran
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has issued a warning to Iranian authorities against the killing of peaceful protesters, stating that Washington "will come to their aid." In a brief social media post, he wrote: "We are ready and prepared for intervention," but did not provide additional details.
A senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded by cautioning that Trump should "be careful" if he chooses to intervene, warning about potential chaos throughout the Middle East.
At least eight people have been reported killed in Iran following nearly a week of mass protests sparked by worsening economic conditions. In his Friday post on Truth Social, Trump stated: "If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their aid." The American president did not specify what actions Washington might take against the Iranian authorities.
In June, the U.S. conducted attacks on Iran's nuclear sites under Trump's orders. American officials later claimed that the attacks significantly delayed Tehran's prospect of building a nuclear weapon – a claim contested by Iran. In retaliation, Iran launched a missile attack on an important U.S. military base in Qatar.
Immediately following Trump's latest social media post, Khamenei's advisor, Ali Larijani, issued his own warning. "Trump should know that U.S. intervention in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying American interests," he wrote.
For some protesters, U.S. intervention would be welcomed. "They [security forces] are scared and tremble at the thought when Mr. Trump says something or Mr. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu says something," said a young protester from Tehran. Preferring to remain anonymous for her safety, she mentioned that protesters have been seeking U.S. support for years, as security forces "believe that if Mr. Trump says something, he will actually act on it."
Footage broadcast by Reuters shows protests in Lorestan province in front of a police station. Eight people have been reported killed since the protests began on Sunday. Two individuals reportedly died in clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Lordegan, according to the semi-official news agency Fars and the human rights group Hengaw, which identified the victims as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh. Three people were killed in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, all in the west of the country, reported Fars.
The protests began on Sunday in Tehran among merchants dissatisfied with a sudden drop in the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, against the U.S. dollar in the free market. By Tuesday, university students had joined, and protests spread to several cities, with people chanting against the religious leaders of the country. Many protesters began calling for the end of Khamenei's rule. Some voices even called for a return to monarchy.
"We have no freedom here," stated a protester who spoke with the BBC. "We fight every day – we face the most brutal things every day. We want to end it [the regime], even at the cost of our lives, we have nothing left." The protests have been the largest since the unrest in 2022, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused by the morality police of not wearing her hijab correctly, although they have not reached the same scale.
President Masoud Pezeshkian stated he would listen to the "legitimate demands" of the protesters. However, the country’s Attorney General, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with a "decisive response."
