Trump, top Iranian security official exchange threats over protests now roiling Iran

US President Donald Trump and a top Iranian security official exchanged duelling threats Friday as widening economic protests swept across parts of the Islamic Republic, further escalating tensions between the countries after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Trump initially wrote on his Truth Social platform, warning Iran that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.” At least seven people have been killed so far in violence surrounding demonstrations. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote, without elaborating.

Shortly after, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, alleged on the social platform X that Israel and the US were stoking the demonstrations.

He offered no evidence to support the allegation, which Iranian officials have repeatedly made during years of protests sweeping the country.

“Trump should know that intervention by the US in the domestic problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of the US interests,” Larijani wrote on X, which the Iranian government blocks. “The people of the US should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers.”

Larijani's remarks likely referenced America's wide military footprint in the region. Iran in June attacked Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after the US strikes on three nuclear sites during Israel's 12-day war on the Islamic Republic.

The current protests, now in their sixth day, have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the demonstrations have yet to be countrywide and have not been as intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

Iran's civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal it wants to negotiate with protesters. However, Pezeshkian has acknowledged that there is not much he can do as Iran's rial currency has rapidly depreciated, with USD 1 now costing some 1.4 million rials. That sparked the initial protests.

The protests, taking root in economic issues, have heard demonstrators chant against Iran's theocracy as well.

Months after the war, Iran said it was no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program to ease sanctions. However, those talks have yet to happen as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned Tehran against reconstituting its atomic programme.