‘Locked and loaded’: Trump vows US action if Iran kills peaceful protesters

US President Donald Trump on Friday (January 2) warned Iran of using lethal force on peaceful protesters, stating that if the Islamic Republic resorts to such actions, the US is ready to intervene. Trump in a post on Truth Social, further stated that it was Iran’s custom to crack down on protesters.

“If Iran shoots 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP,” said Trump.

Lashing out at Trump, Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that US intervention in Iran will result in chaos and confusion.

Seven dead in Iran protests

Trump’s warning comes at a time when at least seven people have been killed in Iran amid increasing protests sparked by Iran's ailing economy, which spread into the Islamic Republic's rural provinces on Thursday.

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According to a report by AP, the deaths may initiate a heavier-handed response by Iran's theocracy over the demonstrations, which have slowed in the capital, Tehran, but expanded elsewhere.

The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations.

Intense violence in Azna

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.

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The most intense violence took place in Azna, a city in Iran's Lorestan province, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) southwest of Tehran. There, online videos purported to show objects in the street ablaze and gunfire echoing as people shouted: “Shameless! Shameless!”

According to a report by the semiofficial Fars news agency, three people had been killed. Other media, including pro-reform outlets, cited Fars for the report while state-run media did not fully acknowledge the violence there or elsewhere.

Protests in Lordegan

As for Lordegan, a city in Iran's Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, online videos showed demonstrators gathered on a street, with the sound of gunfire in the background. The footage matched known features of Lordegan, some 470 kilometers (290 miles) south of Tehran.

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Fars, citing an anonymous official, said two people had been killed during the protests on Thursday.

The Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights in Iran said two people had been killed there, identifying the dead as demonstrators. It also shared a still image of what appeared to be an Iranian police officer, wearing body armour and wielding a shotgun.

(With agency inputs)