President Donald Trump said the United States would intervene if Iran shoots and kills protesters demonstrating against deteriorating economic conditions in the country.
"If Iran shoots (sic) and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their aid. We are armed and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP," he wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets in several provinces of Iran this week, with some demonstrations turning deadly on Wednesday after clashes with police.
Iranian officials issued stern warnings against U.S. interference in the country’s internal affairs. Ali Larijani, Iran’s national security chief, said on X that American intervention would cause “disruption throughout the region and the destruction of American interests.” Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, declared Iran’s national security a “red line.”
"Any interference that comes close to Iranian security... will be met with a bad response," Shamkhani said in X.
At least three people were killed and 17 others injured on Thursday evening when protesters attacked a police station in the city of Azna in Iran's western Lorestan province, the state-run Fars news agency said.
Protesters clashed with police, threw stones at law enforcement personnel and set cars on fire, Fars claimed. The news agency said some “armed protesters took advantage” of a protest in the city. Without providing evidence, Fars said police later confiscated firearms from several individuals.
On Thursday morning, at least two people were killed when dozens of protesters clashed with police in the Lordegan district of the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Fars said. It remained unclear whether the casualties were among law enforcement authorities or protesters. Unverified videos circulating on social media showed protesters throwing stones at police in the province. Fars reported that protesters threw stones at the governor's office, banks and other government buildings.
The first known death linked to the protests occurred on Wednesday evening, when a member of Iran's Basij paramilitary force was killed and 13 others wounded in the city of Kuhdasht in Lorestan province, according to state-affiliated media. The Fars news agency showed a video of a member of the police force receiving treatment after allegedly being set on fire by protesters.
The Basij is often used by the regime to suppress protests. Twenty people were arrested in the protests, the Kuhdasht prosecutor said on Thursday, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency.
In the Malard district of Tehran province, authorities arrested 30 people for “disturbing public order,” according to Fars. The agency quoted a district official, Mansour Saleki, as saying that the detainees were “abusing the legal right of citizens to protest.”
According to investigations, a number of the arrested protesters came from neighboring counties, Saleki said, according to Fars. Iran's supreme leader uses the only strategy as crises escalate and protests erupt.
Traders and students took to the streets in several Iranian cities this week, chanting anti-regime slogans about economic conditions as the currency hit a record low.
The protests were the largest since a nationwide uprising in 2022 sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested on suspicion of wearing a headscarf inappropriately.
The US State Department said in a post on X on Wednesday that it was concerned about reports that protesters were facing "intimidation, violence and arrests" and called on authorities to end the crackdown.
Although limited so far, the protests mark the latest chapter in growing discontent in Iran.
