President Trump said the United States is ready to retaliate against Iran if the Islamic republic starts targeting protesters.
Demonstrations have been flooding the streets of Iran, partly because of its struggling economy.
“If Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Mr. Trump posted Friday on Truth Social. “We are locked and ready to go.”
At least seven people have been killed amid the protests, now in their sixth day, as demonstrators chant against the Iranian government.
Ali Larijani, a former Parliament speaker who serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, pushed back at Mr. Trump’s threat.
“With the statements by Israeli officials and @realDonaldTrump, what has been going on behind the scenes is now clear. We distinguish between the stance of the protesting shopkeepers and the actions of disruptive actors, and Trump should know that U.S. interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America’s interests,” Mr. Larijani said.
“The American people should know — Trump started this adventurism,” he said. “They should be mindful of their soldiers’ safety.”
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei, also warned that “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,” he wrote.
The U.S. has a big military presence in the region. Iran in June attacked the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after B-2s destroyed three nuclear sites in Iran. No Americans were injured.
On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian admitted that his country is at fault for the protests, according to Reuters.
“We are to blame. … Do not look for America or anyone else to blame. We must serve properly so that people are satisfied with us. … It is us who have to find a solution to these problems,” he said.
The Iranian protests are the biggest since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations.
• This article includes wire service reports.
