USA (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – US President Donald Trump warned Iran’s authorities against killing peaceful protesters, saying Washington would intervene to protect demonstrators.
In response, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of possible turmoil throughout the Middle East and advised Trump to “be careful” if he participated.
Iran has reportedly seen at least eight fatalities following nearly a week of widespread protests brought on by deteriorating economic conditions.
In Friday’s post on Truth Social, Trump wrote:
“If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
The US president did not outline what Washington could do to the Iranian authorities in his post.
On Trump’s orders, the United States launched strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
Iran disputes American authorities’ later allegation that the strikes had seriously hindered Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.
Iran retaliated by attacking a significant US military installation in Qatar with missiles.
Ali Larijani, a Khamenei adviser, issued a warning shortly after Trump’s most recent social media tweet.
However, some demonstrators would welcome US action.
“They [security forces] are afraid and they shake to the bones when Mr Trump says something or Mr (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu says something,”
a young woman protesting in Tehran told the BBC’s Newshour programme.
She stated that demonstrators have been requesting US assistance for years since the security forces “believe that if Mr. Trump says something, he will do [it]” and they “know if anything happens, they would have to take the consequences.” She preferred to remain nameless for her own safety.
On the fifth day of protests, six people were reportedly killed in Iran on Thursday.
According to the human rights organization Hengaw and the semi-official Fars news agency, two individuals were killed in fighting between demonstrators and security personnel in the southwestern city of Lordegan.
Fuladshahr in central Iran reported one death, while Marvdasht in the south reported another.
Cars were set on fire during ongoing clashes between demonstrators and security personnel, according to footage shared on social media.
Videos from the protests in Lordegan, Tehran, and Marvdasht on Thursday have been authenticated by BBC Persian.
A teenage member of Iran’s security services was reportedly killed on Wednesday in the western city of Kouhdasht, according to prior statements from Iranian officials. However, demonstrators claimed that the man was actually one of their own and that the security personnel had shot and killed him.
Conflicts were recorded during the man’s funeral on Friday, which was attended by thousands of mourners. When security personnel in uniform attempted to transport his coffin, the throng grabbed it and drove them away.
Shopkeepers in Tehran started protesting on Sunday when the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, dropped sharply against the US dollar on the open market.
“We don’t have any kind of liberty here,”
the protester who spoke to the BBC said.
“We fight every day – we face the most brutal things every day. We want to end it [the regime], even with the price of our lives, we don’t have anything.”
By Tuesday, demonstrations against the nation’s ecclesiastical authorities had expanded to many cities and involved university students.
Since then, a large number of demonstrators have called for Khamenei’s overthrow. A return to the monarchy has been expressed by some.
Though they haven’t been on the same scale, the protests have been the most widespread since a revolt in 2022 that was triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was accused by morality police of not wearing her veil properly.
The demonstrators’ “legitimate demands” will be heard, according to President Masoud Pezeshkian.
However, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the nation’s prosecutor general, issued a “decisive response” to any attempt to instigate instability.
What actions can the US legally take to protect foreign protesters?
The US lacks legal authority to directly cover foreign protesters abroad, as transnational law respects state sovereignty over internal affairs. licit conduct remains limited to political pressure, warrants, and philanthropic support.
Issue public excoriations and prompt restraint, as Trump did via Truth Social. give shelter or exile status to fleeing protesters under US immigration law. put warrants on officers via Administrative Order or Magnitsky Act for mortal rights abuses.
Direct intervention pitfalls violating UN Charter Article 2( 4); once precedents like Soleimani strike were justified as tone- defense, not protester deliverance.” Locked and loaded” rhetoric signals implicit but requires Congressional authorization under War Powers Resolution.
