Donald Trump took to social media to issue a warning to Iran that threatened escalation following reports of protests in the country.
Trump made it clear that the US is ready to intervene in Iran, should the situation deteriorate, according to a new post by the president.
Iran’s Fars news agency has reported that there have been deaths following ongoing protests in the city of Lordegan, in south-western Iran.
Both the agency and human rights groups have claimed that at least six people have died following clashes between protestors and security forces.
According to a BBC report, two of the deceased were in Lordegan, three in Azna and another in Kouhdasht.
Videos have also started being shared on social media showing the unrest in the city, highlighting the frustrations felt by the people in the company.
Donald Trump condemned Iran in his social media post (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) According to reports, some protestors are calling for an end to the rule of the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. As well as this, there is frustration regarding the collapse of the currency as it struggles against the US dollar on the open market.
Following these reports of deaths amid the ongoing protests, Trump took to Truth Social to voice his opinions.
He stated: “If Iran shots 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP.”
However, these comments have not gone down well with Iranian leadership, according to a Telegraph report.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, claimed that Israel and the US were stoking the demonstrations.
In a statement, he said: “We distinguish the positions of protesting shopkeepers from destructive elements, and Trump should know that America’s interference in this internal matter equals the disruption of the entire region and the destruction of America’s interests.”
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was previously the council’s secretary for years, issued a similar statement disparaging the idea of future American intervention.
Writing on X, he warned: “Any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut.”
“The people of Iran properly know the experience of ‘being rescued’ by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that his government will listen to the ‘legitimate demands’ of the protesters, but things still remain tense in the region, with conflicting reports emerging from the government and the protesters.