Washington/Tehran: Relations between the United States and Iran sharpened further on Friday after US President Donald Trump and senior Iranian leaders exchanged strong warnings amid expanding anti-government protests across the Islamic Republic. The unrest, now entering its sixth day, has resulted in at least eight deaths, according to rights groups.
The demonstrations began after a sharp collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, but have since taken on a political tone, with protesters raising slogans against the country’s ruling establishment. Observers describe the unrest as the most significant since the 2022 protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody, though the current movement has not yet reached the same nationwide intensity.
Trump, posting on his Truth Social platform, warned Tehran against using force on demonstrators, saying the United States was “locked and loaded” and prepared to act if peaceful protesters were harmed. His comments marked a rare and direct expression of US support for protesters in Iran, a stance previous American administrations often avoided to prevent accusations of foreign interference.
Iranian leaders reacted swiftly. Ali Larijani, a senior adviser and former parliament speaker, accused the US and Israel of fuelling the unrest, warning that any American involvement in Iran’s internal affairs could destabilise the wider region and harm US interests. Separately, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cautioned that any external attempt to threaten Iran’s security would be met with force.
Tehran also moved diplomatically, with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations urging the UN Security Council to condemn what he described as threatening rhetoric from Washington and to reaffirm Iran’s right to defend its sovereignty. Iranian officials linked the latest tensions to a history of grievances with the US, including the June airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and past military confrontations.
Despite the political escalation, US officials said there had been no immediate changes to American troop deployments in the Middle East. Iran had previously launched missiles at a US air base in Qatar in response to the June strikes, though no casualties were reported.
On the ground, protests continued in multiple cities, including Zahedan in the southeast and Marvdasht in Fars province. Funeral processions for some of those killed reportedly turned into fresh demonstrations. Human rights monitors said protests have been recorded in more than 100 locations across 22 provinces.
Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, signalling openness to dialogue, but acknowledged limited room for manoeuvre as the economy deteriorates. The rial’s steep fall—now trading at around 1.4 million to the US dollar—has intensified public anger.
Meanwhile, Tehran has reiterated that it has halted uranium enrichment at all sites, indicating possible openness to renewed talks on its nuclear programme. However, warnings from both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against any revival of Iran’s nuclear activities have kept diplomatic prospects uncertain.
As protests persist and rhetoric hardens, analysts warn that the risk of further confrontation remains high, with domestic unrest in Iran increasingly intersecting with broader regional and international tensions.
