US President Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials exchanged sharp threats amid economic protests spreading across more cities in the Islamic Republic, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump initially warned Iran on his platform “Truth Social“ that if it “forcibly kills peaceful protesters“, the United States “will come to the rescue“. “We are ready to act“, Trump wrote, without giving details. At least seven people have died so far in the demonstrations, sparked in part by the collapse of the Iranian rial.
Shortly afterwards, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said "Ex" that Israel and the United States were instigating the demonstrations. He did not provide evidence to support the claim, which Iranian officials have repeatedly made during previous protests.
„Trump should know that US interference in an internal issue will lead to chaos throughout the region and the destruction of US interests. Americans should know that Trump has started adventurism,” he said.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that “any interfering hand that reaches too far into Iran’s security will be cut off.”
“The Iranian people know the experience of being ‘rescued’ by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza,” he added in “Ex.”
The current protests, which have been going on for nearly a week, have become the largest in Iran since the 2022 protests that were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. However, the demonstrations have not yet spread across the country and are not as intense as they were then.