Trump Warns Iran: U.S. 'Locked and Loaded' If Protesters Killed

Protests in Iran, fueled by a collapsing economy and turning increasingly deadly, have now drawn direct threats from President Donald Trump and sharp warnings from Tehran—raising the stakes in a nation still reeling from U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites last June.

Iranian protests that began over the sharp depreciation of the rial—the country's national currency— have escalated into widespread unrest, with human rights groups reporting at least seven deaths from security force gunfire in recent days.

Demonstrations started in late December when shopkeepers struck in Tehran over soaring inflation and the currency's plunge to around 1.4 million rials per dollar.

The unrest quickly spread to other cities, drawing students and others chanting anti-regime slogans.Rights organizations, including the Center for Human Rights in Iran and Hengaw, tallied multiple killings, mostly in western provinces like Lorestan and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.

One case involved Amirhesam Khodayarifard, whom authorities called a Basij militia member killed by protesters but rights groups and video evidence suggest was a demonstrator shot by forces.

Crowds at his funeral reportedly reclaimed his body and rejected the official narrative.

Iranian officials acknowledged limited deaths, blaming "rioters," while semiofficial media reported attacks on security personnel.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called protesters' economic grievances legitimate, saying, "if people are unhappy with us, we are the ones at fault."

On Friday, President Trump posted on social media: "If Iran 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."

Iranian leaders fired back swiftly.

Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, warned there will be repercussions if the US intervenes.

"Trump should know that American interference in this issue is equivalent to chaos in the entire region and will destroy America’s interests," Larijani wrote on X.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that any U.S. intervention would make "all American bases and forces legitimate targets."

Adviser Ali Shamkhani added, "Any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut."

The exchanges mark a sharp escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions, months after American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during Israel's brief war with Tehran.

Analysts warn Trump's pledge risks portraying the protests as foreign-backed, potentially justifying harsher crackdowns—while inviting the very involvement he threatened.