Protests in Iran: Seven people died during demonstrations, Trump’s reaction appeared
Фото: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump has said the United States could intervene in Iran’s internal affairs if it brutally suppresses peaceful protests. He stressed that the US is ready to support the demonstrators if the Iranian authorities use lethal force.
He wrote about this in Truth Social .
Trump said that the killing of protesters is “common practice” for Iran, and warned of a possible US response.
“If Iran opens fire and brutally kills peaceful protesters, as is their usual practice, the United States of America will come to their aid. We are ready to act,” Donald Trump wrote.
Protests in Iran have erupted over a sharp deterioration in the economic situation. Key reasons include the rapid decline in the Iranian rial, rising prices, and high inflation. The first protests began in Tehran among businessmen outraged by another collapse of the national currency against the US dollar on the open market.
University students later joined the protests, and demonstrations spread beyond the capital. The protests took place in several regions of the country, including the provinces of Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Isfahan. The protests were the largest in scale since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in a police station sparked nationwide protests.
According to media reports, at least seven people have died in the protests. Two deaths were reported on Wednesday and five more on Thursday. The incidents occurred in four cities, mostly populated by the Lur ethnic group.
The most intense clashes reportedly took place in the city of Azna in Lorestan province, about 300 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Videos circulated online showing fires in the streets, gunfire and protesters shouting.
The semi-official Fars news agency reported three deaths. Other media outlets, including pro-reformist ones, cited this figure, while state media did not fully acknowledge the violence. It was also reported that journalists had previously been detained for covering protests in 2022.
Videos emerged from the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, 470 kilometers south of Tehran, showing protesters gathering and gunfire heard in the background. Fars, citing an anonymous official, said two people had been killed in Thursday’s protests.
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, based in Washington, reported the deaths of two protesters. The center also released a still image that allegedly shows an Iranian police officer in a bulletproof vest with a shotgun.
In Fuladshehr, Isfahan province, state media reported the death of a man, which activist groups linked to police shootings of protesters. Separately, a 21-year-old volunteer from the Basij paramilitary force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was reported to have died during one of the demonstrations.
The state news agency IRNA confirmed the death of the Corps member without providing details. Meanwhile, the Student News Network, an agency considered close to the Basij, blamed protesters for his death, citing statements by the deputy governor of Lorestan province, Said Pourali.
“The protests are driven by economic pressures, inflation and exchange rate fluctuations and are an expression of concerns about livelihoods,” said Saeed Purali.
According to him, another 13 Basij members and police officers were injured.
Iranian authorities also reported the arrests of seven people, including five who state television described as monarchists and two others linked to organizations based in Europe. Separately, security forces reportedly seized 100 smuggled pistols during operations.
The Iranian government, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, has tried to signal its willingness to negotiate with protesters, but has acknowledged that it has limited options to influence the situation, as the Iranian rial is rapidly depreciating, with 1 US dollar worth about 1.4 million rials.
Authorities also declared Wednesday a public holiday across much of the country, citing the cold weather. Iran’s weekend falls on Thursday and Friday, while Saturday coincides with the birthday of Imam Ali, which is also a public holiday.
By the way,a wave of mass protests has erupted in Iran, caused by the rapid fall of the national currency and the worsening economic crisis . Against the backdrop of the collapse of the Iranian rial, the ayatollah regime is increasingly losing control of the situation, which is causing open resistance in various regions of the country.
As a reminder, US President Donald Trump said that Republicans in Congress are preparing a bill on very tough sanctions against countries that continue to do business with Russia. According to him, the document may also include provisions on Iran.
As reported, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran would rebuild all destroyed nuclear facilities with greater force. At the same time, he assured that the country’s nuclear program is exclusively civilian in nature.
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