President Donald Trump fired off a stark warning on Truth Social Thursday, vowing U.S. support for Iranian protesters amid a fresh wave of deadly unrest gripping the Islamic Republic. “If Iran shoots peaceful protesters and violently kills them, as they are so used to doing, the United States will come to their aid. We are fully ready. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump,” he posted, as economic woes boiled over into open defiance against Tehran’s theocratic rulers.
The demonstrations erupted last week in Tehran over skyrocketing prices and a currency in freefall, the rial now fetching about 1.4 million to the dollar. What started as bread-and-butter gripes has morphed into raw fury at the regime, with chants targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his inner circle. At least seven are dead, according to officials and rights monitors, in clashes that have spilled from the capital into rural provinces.
This isn’t just any flare-up. Iran is still licking its wounds from a brutal 12-day war with Israel back in June, where U.S. strikes hammered Tehran’s nuclear sites. Tehran paused uranium enrichment across all facilities—a possible olive branch hinting at talks to ease biting Western sanctions. But Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu have kept the pressure on, cautioning against any nuclear restart, per Express US reporting.
Protests hardened Thursday in dusty towns like Lordegan, deep in the Lur ethnic heartland of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, some 290 miles south of Tehran. Grainy online videos captured crowds surging down a main drag, gunfire cracking in the background. Semi-official Fars News Agency cited an unnamed official saying two died there that day. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Washington verified those killings, identifying the victims as protesters, and shared a photo of a cop in body armor clutching a shotgun.
Mahsa Amini’s death Protest in 2022
The death toll ticks up: two on Wednesday, five more Thursday across four towns, mostly Lur strongholds. Fars pegged it at three total; reformist outlets echoed that, while state media downplayed the violence or ignored it outright. These are the bloodiest scenes since 2022’s nationwide fury over Mahsa Amini’s death in custody—a 22-year-old Kurd arrested for flouting hijab rules. That uprising shook the regime to its core; this one’s smaller so far, but the echoes are loud.
Journalists know the drill—big risks for coverage. In 2022, reporters got hauled off for simply filing stories. No wonder today’s chaos feels underreported; foreign crews are thin on the ground, and locals face the same perils.
Reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian is playing good cop, signaling willingness to talk with the crowds. But he admitted his hands are tied by the rial’s nosedive and war’s hangover. His civilian government, overseeing day-to-day under Khamenei’s watchful eye, faces a credibility crunch as security forces crack down.
State TV spun a counternarrative Friday: seven arrests, five allegedly monarchists dreaming of the Shah’s return, two tied to Europe-based agitators. They also touted a raid nabbing 100 smuggled pistols—no details on who or where. It’s classic regime playbook—blame outsiders, flex muscle.
Trump just lit the fuse
Trump’s tweet amps the stakes. Back in his first term, he ditched the Iran nuclear deal and ordered the drone strike on General Qassem Soleimani. Now, with protests flaring, his rhetoric could embolden the streets—or give hardliners in Tehran pretext for escalation. U.S. officials haven’t elaborated on what “fully ready” means: sanctions? Covert aid? Or something hotter?
For Iran’s battered middle class, squeezed by inflation and isolation, these marches signal deep rot. Protests have slowed in Tehran but rage on elsewhere, testing a regime that’s survived worse. Rights groups warn of more bloodshed if the crackdown intensifies. As one exiled Iranian analyst put it: “They’re cornered, broke, and furious. Trump just lit the fuse.”
