US president says Washington will intervene if Tehran violently suppresses protests over excessive costs.
Printed On 2 Jan 2026
United States President Donald Trump has stated Washington is “locked and loaded” to reply if Iran kills extra protesters, after cost-of-living demonstrations within the nation turned lethal.
Protesters and safety forces clashed in a number of Iranian cities on Thursday, with six reported killed within the first deaths because the unrest escalated.
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Shopkeepers within the capital, Tehran, went on strike on Sunday over excessive costs and financial stagnation, actions which have since unfold to different elements of the nation.
Trump stated on his Reality Social platform on Friday that “if Iran shoots and violently kills peaceable protesters, which is their customized, the USA of America will come to their rescue.
“We’re locked and loaded and able to go,” the Republican chief added.
Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, condemned Trump’s remarks, saying he “ought to know that American interference on this inner difficulty is equal to chaos throughout your entire area and the destruction of American pursuits”.
“We take into account the positions of the protesting retailers separate from these of the harmful parts,” Larijani added in a put up on X.
“The folks of the US ought to know that Trump started the adventurism. They need to maintain their very own troopers.”
Larijani’s remarks seemingly referenced the US’s vast navy footprint within the area. In June, Iran attacked Al Udeid airbase in Qatar after the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear websites throughout Israel’s 12-day warfare with Iran.
Iran’s Fars information company reported on Thursday that two folks have been killed in clashes between safety forces and protesters within the metropolis of Lordegan, within the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province.
State tv reported earlier {that a} member of Iran’s safety forces was killed in a single day throughout protests within the western metropolis of Kuhdasht.
Dozens of arrests have been additionally reported by the authorities throughout a number of cities.
Public dissatisfaction
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, stated Iran’s financial woes are placing vital strain on Iranians.
“These protests initially began sporadically, however later they’ve unfold into smaller cities throughout,” he stated.
“We are able to see this public temper and dissatisfaction within the protests,” he stated, including that the confrontations between the protesters and safety forces primarily occurred in smaller cities.
Iran’s economic system has struggled for years because the US reimposed sanctions in 2018, after Trump withdrew from a global nuclear settlement throughout his first time period.
The deal was agreed by his predecessor Barack Obama after an extended string of negotiations involving Iran and different Western powers.
The newest protests are the largest since 2022, when unrest was triggered by the dying in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict costume code for ladies.
Her dying prompted a nationwide wave of anger that left a number of hundred folks lifeless, together with dozens of members of the safety forces.
