Trump and top Iran official trade threats over protests
As widening economic protests spread across parts of the Islamic Republic, US President Donald Trump and a senior Iranian security official are exchanging threats, further increasing tensions between the countries after America bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
Trump initially warned Iran on the Truth Social platform that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters” the US would “come to their rescue.”
At least seven people have been killed so far in the violence surrounding the demonstrations.
“We are locked, loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote on Friday, without providing further details.
Shortly thereafter, former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, claimed on the X social platform that Israel and the United States were fueling the demonstrations.
He offered no evidence to support the claim, which Iranian officials have made repeatedly during protests that have gripped the country for years.
Larijani wrote about X, which the Iranian government blocked: “Trump must know that US intervention in the internal problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of US interests.”
“The American people should know that Trump started adventurism. They should protect their own soldiers.”
Larijani’s remarks were likely referring to America’s large military footprint in the region.
Iran attacked Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June after the United States struck three nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic.
The protests, now in their sixth day, have become the largest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered demonstrations across the country.
However, the demonstrations have not yet spread across the country and have not been as intense as the demonstrations surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained for not wearing a headscarf to the authorities’ liking.
Iran’s civilian government, led by reformist President Massoud Pezeshkian, is trying to signal that it is willing to negotiate with protesters.
However, Pezeshkian acknowledged that there was not much he could do because the Iranian rial currency was losing value rapidly and 1 US dollar now costs about 1.4 million rials.
This sparked the first protests.
In the protests rooted in economic problems, demonstrators were also heard chanting slogans against the Iranian theocracy.
Months after the war, Iran was trying to signal to the West that it was open to possible talks on its atomic program to ease sanctions by saying it was no longer enriching uranium anywhere in the country.
However, these talks have not yet taken place as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran not to rebuild its atomic program.
