Trump says if Iran targets peaceful protesters, the US will take action

President Trump claims that in the face of Iran’s growing unrest due to economic hardship, America is “locked and loaded” to protect protesters.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump pledged that if Iranian authorities use violence against nonviolent demonstrators, the US would step in. “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post. “We are ready to go, locked, and loaded,” indicating resounding support for the protesters.

Iran’s biggest protests in three years are being sparked by economic hardship and a precipitous decline in the country’s currency, which coincided with the announcement. Numerous people have been killed in clashes between demonstrators and security personnel, which is a significant uptick in the turmoil that started with shopkeeper protests against skyrocketing costs and inflation.

An attack on a police station in the western Iranian province of Lorestan resulted in three protester deaths and seventeen injuries, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. On Thursday, the rioters broke into the police headquarters at approximately 1800 (local time). According to Fars, they engaged in combat with law enforcement and set multiple police vehicles on fire.

The turmoil is a reflection of Iran’s long-standing economic problems, which have gotten worse since Trump pulled the US from the international nuclear agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions. The demonstrations show how the public’s ire over the government’s management of the economy and its reaction to popular demands is escalating.