Trump says US 'locked and loaded' to intervene if Iran kills protesters

WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump vowed the United States will intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters as demonstrations in Iran prompted by the country's struggling economy entered its sixth day.

"If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump said Jan. 2 in an early morning post on hisTruth Social platform.

The protests come amid soaring inflation in Iran following years of sanctions from the United States and other nations that have crippled Iran's economy. The demonstrations have left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.

Earlier in the week, Trump threatened to "knock the hell" out of Iran if it works to rebuild its weapons supply after Israeli and U.S. strikes on Tehran's nuclear and missile programs in June. Trump made the comments as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

In response to Trump's latest comments, Iranian official Ali Larijani warned that U.S. interference in domestic Iranian issues would equal the destabilization of the whole region. Iran backs groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Trump's comments came as a local official in western Iran, where several deaths were reported, was cited by state media as warning that any unrest or illegal gatherings would be met "decisively and without leniency," raising the likelihood of escalation.

State-affiliated media and rights groups have reported at least six deaths since Wednesday, including one man who authorities said was a member of the Basij paramilitary affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.

This week's protests are the biggest in three years, since nationwide demonstrations triggered by the death of a young woman in custody in late 2022 paralyzed Iran for weeks, with rights groups reporting hundreds killed.

Contributing: Reuters

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