Trump warns Iranian authorities against killing peaceful protesters

US President Donald Trump has warned Iranian authorities against killing peaceful protesters, saying Washington will “come to their aid”.

In a brief social media post, he wrote: “We are locked, loaded and ready to go. » He gave no further details.

A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded by saying Trump should “be careful” if he intervened, warning of potential chaos in the Middle East.

At least six people were reported killed in Iran on Thursday after nearly a week of mass protests sparked by the deteriorating economic situation.

In his Friday message on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “If Iran shoots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, as is their habit, the United States of America will come to their rescue. »

Khamenei’s adviser Ali Larijani warned soon after that any US interference would destabilize “the entire region” and also harm US interests.

In his message, the American president did not specify what measures Washington could take against the Iranian authorities.

In June, the United States carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Trump’s orders.

U.S. officials later argued that the strikes had significantly delayed the prospect of Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon – a claim Iran disputes.

In retaliation, Iran has launched a missile attack on a major US military base in Qatar.

In Iran, six people were reportedly killed on Thursday during the fifth day of protests.

Two people died in clashes between protesters and security forces in the southwestern town of Lordegan, according to the semi-official Fars news agency and the Hengaw human rights group.

Three people were killed in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, all located in the west of the country, Fars reports.

Fars did not specify whether those killed were protesters or members of the security forces.

Hengaw said the two killed in Lordegan were protesters, naming them Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these deaths.

Images posted on social media showed cars being set on fire during ongoing battles between protesters and security forces.

BBC Persian verified videos showing Thursday’s protests in Lordegan, Tehran and Marvdasht, in the southern province of Fars.

Iranian officials said earlier that a member of the country’s security forces was killed in the western town of Kouhdasht on Wednesday.

Protests began on Sunday in Tehran among traders angered by another sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, against the US dollar on the open market.

By Tuesday, university students were involved and they had spread to several cities, with people chanting against the country’s religious leaders.

Since then, many demonstrators have called for the end of Khamenei’s regime. Some have said they want a return to the monarchy.

The protests are the most widespread since a 2022 uprising sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused by morality police of not wearing her veil properly, but they have not been on the same scale.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said he would listen to protesters’ “legitimate demands.”

But the country’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, warned that any attempt to create instability would result in a “decisive response.”