US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region.
Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated.
Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country.
Photo: EPA
If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on social media.
“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he added.
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi called Trump’s remarks “reckless and dangerous” and warned that the armed forces were “on standby” in the event of any intervention.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani warned Trump that “US interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America’s interests.”
The American people “should be mindful of their soldiers’ safety,” Larijani added.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said any US intervention would “be exposed to a response,” calling Iran’s security a “red line.”
Iranian leaders said that peaceful protests over Iran’s dire economy were legitimate and understandable.
The country’s economy has been battered by years of crushing international sanctions over its nuclear program, with raging inflation and a collapsing currency.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that from a religious perspective, he and his government would be damned to hell if they failed to address the people’s economic hardship.
Officials have warned of a firm response to any instability.
An Iranian police spokesman said the authorities acknowledged that the protests “express the will of the people to improve their living conditions.”
“The police clearly distinguish between the legitimate demands of the people and destructive actions... and will not permit any enemies to transform the unrest into chaos,” they added.
The prosecutor of the district of Lorestan, where the clashes took place, was quoted on the judiciary’s Mizan Web site as saying: “Any participation in illegal gatherings and any action aimed at disturbing public order, destroying property, disobeying law enforcement, inciting illegal gatherings... will be treated with the greatest firmness.”
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