&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Locked and loaded’: Trump warns Iran against killing protesters, says US ‘will come to their rescue’")
US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jan 2) said that the United States is “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran kills protesters amid violence in the country. Following clashes between protesters and security forces in several Iranian cities, six people were killed. The demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran on Sunday (Dec 28) over the rising cost-of-living. The shopkeepers announced a strike due to high prices and economic stagnation.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned Iran of violence against peaceful protesters, alleging it is a custom of Tehran.
“If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” the US president wrote.
“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump added.
Clashes in Iran
Iran’s Fars news agency reported Thursday (Jan 1) that two people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, while three lost their lives in Azna, in the neighbouring Lorestan province. A member of Iran’s security forces was also killed amid the violence in the western city of Kouhdasht, state television reported.
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Earlier on Wednesday (Dec 31), several people damaged parts of the provincial governor’s office, according to the justice ministry’s Mizan news agency. Fars reported that the buildings were “severely damaged”, adding that the police arrested several people described as “ringleaders”.
The clashes mark an escalation in the unrest, which has spread across Iran after shopkeepers began protests on Sunday over inflation and the depreciating currency. The protests have now spread to Iran’s rural provinces also.
The rate of inflation in Iran is at a high of 40 per cent, made worse by Western sanctions.
The Iranian government has offered dialogue after the protests, signalling a softer and conciliatory approach. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Thursday that authorities would hold a direct dialogue with representatives of trade unions and merchants, but did not elaborate further.
