Iran International
US President Donald Trump’s warning to Iran's rulers over violence against protesters has triggered divided reactions among Iran’s opposition and critics, with Tehran answering the remarks by issuing counter-threats against US interests in the region.
Hours after Trump posted his message on Truth Social, Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned that US interference would be met with instability and the destruction of American interests across the region.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned Trump’s remarks as “interventionist,” warning that any reaction by the Islamic Republic could push “the entire region deeper into crisis and instability.”
A day later, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared that Tehran would confront what he described as “riots,” while signaling limited openness to dialogue.
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose name is being chanted by protesters as a future leader of Iran, welcomed Trump’s message. In a social media post, he thanked the US president and wrote:
“This warning you have issued to the criminal leaders of the Islamic Republic gives my people greater strength and hope—hope that, at last, a President of the United States is standing firmly by their side.”
He added: “I have the plan for stable transition for Iran and the support of my people to get it done. With your leadership of the free world, we can leave a legacy of lasting peace.”
In other messages, he urged Tehran residents to defy government efforts to prevent gatherings in the capital, calling mass street presence a vital complement to protests in smaller cities.
Amir Hossein Etemadi, an advisor to Prince Reza Pahlavi, warned Iranian officials that Trump’s message should be taken seriously, writing: “For every bullet fired at the people, they move faster toward their own death and that of their regime.”
Rejection of foreign intervention
At the same time, many reformists and government critics in Iran have strongly opposed foreign interference while urging authorities to refrain from violence.
Azar Mansouri, head of Iran’s Reformist Front, emphasized the right to protest but rejected outside interference, writing: “We stand with the protesters and do not see repression as a solution. But we explicitly and firmly condemn any foreign intervention; such interference harms non-violent protests.”
Prominent commentator Sadegh Zibakalam wrote that while he views Iran’s foreign, military, and nuclear policies as damaging to national interests, he cannot “stand alongside Trump and Netanyahu,” despite recognizing protest as a fundamental civil right.
Former vice president Mohammad-Ali Abtahi urged the government to prevent bloodshed to deny Washington any pretext.
Such statements have angered some social media users, who accuse reformist figures of aligning with the Islamic Republic against protesters.
A double-edged threat
Several analysts argue that Trump’s warning could have contradictory effects embolden some protesters and deter others.
Reformist journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi wrote that military intervention aimed at regime change is likely the last thing Trump seeks. Instead, he argued, Trump sees the protests as leverage for maximum pressure and potentially to undermine the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy.
According to Zeidabadi, such threats may push some protesters to withdraw while emboldening others.
Another commentator, Sahand Iranmehr, echoed this view, saying the message could foster “false hope” among some protesters while making others fear their movement could become “a battleground for US or Israeli geopolitical agendas.”
Journalist Bahman Amouee argued that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have effectively handed the Iranian government an excuse for harsher repression, aided by opportunists inside and outside the country.
Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, summed up the concern in a post on X:
“Threatening to bomb Iran is not helping protesters… Iranians didn't revolt when Israel bombed and called on them to rise up; they are unlikely to do the same if US bombed Iran.”
“A number of agitated people, enemy mercenaries, had positioned themselves behind bazaar merchants and chanted slogans against Islam, against Iran and against the Islamic Republic,” Ali Khamenei said, according to state media.
“Protest is legitimate, but protest is different from rioting,” Khamenei added. “Officials should speak with protesters. Speaking with a rioter is pointless. Rioters must be put in their place,” he said.
The comments marked Khamenei’s first public response to the latest wave of demonstrations, which have intensified amid economic strain and currency volatility.
Khamenei’s language echoed his stance during earlier nationwide protests, including the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising and demonstrations in November 2019, when security forces used lethal force to suppress unrest.
At least eight protesters have been killed so far after being shot by security forces during the current unrest, according to human rights groups. Independent organizations, including Iran Human Rights Organization, previously documented 551 deaths – among them 68 children – during the 2022 protests.
Currency crisis blamed on ‘the enemy’
Khamenei also attributed the protests to economic grievances while assigning responsibility for the currency crisis to foreign adversaries. “These gatherings were mainly by bazaar merchants,” he said, adding that sharp and unstable exchange-rate swings were “not natural” and were “the work of the enemy.”
He accused unnamed actors of exploiting merchants’ complaints to cause “damage and insecurity,” saying such actions were “unacceptable.”
The remarks came as protesters in several cities have chanted for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and mainly voiced support for the exiled prince Reza Pahlavi.
Confrontation with ‘the enemy’
Khamenei closed by insisting the Islamic Republic would not retreat. “The enemy will not sit quietly and uses every opportunity,” he said, adding that authorities “were and will be present in the field.”
On Friday, US President Donald Trump warned that if Iranian authorities shoot peaceful protesters, the United States would act to help the people.
"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," Trump wrote in a message published on his Truth Social account.
Iranian officials responded with warnings toward the United States and Israel.
Washington would step in if protesters are violently killed, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” he wrote. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
Protests turn deadly
Trump’s remarks came as protests in Iran reached a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, with at least seven protesters reported killed by security forces. Demonstrations spread to new cities, including the clerical stronghold of Qom, where crowds openly called for the downfall of the theocracy.
Earlier, a US official said the protests reflect deep public anger at years of government failure. In a written statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the United States Department of State described the unrest as an expression of the Iranian people’s “understandable anger.”
“The protests reflect the understandable anger of the Iranian people at their government's failures and excuses,” the official said, accusing Tehran of neglecting the economy, agriculture, water and electricity for decades while “squandering billions on terrorist proxies and nuclear weapons research.” The statement also cited Iran’s involvement in acts of “terrorism against the United States and its allies.”
Demonstrations were reported across dozens of locations, from Tehran and Isfahan to Lorestan, Mazandaran, Khuzestan, Hamadan and Fars. Protesters chanted slogans directly targeting the ruling system and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Pro-monarchy slogans dominated many rallies, highlighting how the unrest has moved beyond economic grievances into open political defiance. Security forces used live fire in several cities, including Nurabad in Lorestan and Hamedan in western Iran, where videos showed officers shooting at demonstrators who remained in the streets despite the crackdown.
