Protesters and security forces clashed in several Iranian cities on Thursday, with six reported killed in the first deaths since the unrest escalated.
Shopkeepers in the capital, Tehran, went on strike on Sunday over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread to other parts of the country.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Friday that “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,” the Republican leader added.
Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, condemned Trump’s remarks, saying he “should know that American interference in this internal issue is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests”.
“We consider the positions of the protesting merchants separate from those of the destructive elements,” Larijani added in a post on X.
“The people of the US should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers.”
Larijani’s remarks likely referenced the US’s wide military footprint in the region. In June, Iran attacked Al Udeid airbase in Qatar after the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Thursday that two people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province.
State television reported earlier that a member of Iran’s security forces was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kuhdasht.
Dozens of arrests were also reported by the authorities across multiple cities.
Public dissatisfaction
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Iran’s economic woes are putting significant pressure on Iranians.
“These protests initially started sporadically, but later they have spread into smaller cities across,” he said.
“We can see this public mood and dissatisfaction in the protests,” he said, adding that the confrontations between the protesters and security forces mainly happened in smaller cities.
Iran’s economy has struggled for years since the US reimposed sanctions in 2018, after Trump withdrew from an international nuclear agreement during his first term.
The deal was agreed by his predecessor Barack Obama after a long string of negotiations involving Iran and other Western powers.
The latest protests are the biggest since 2022, when unrest was triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Her death prompted a nationwide wave of anger that left several hundred people dead, including dozens of members of the security forces.
(aljazeera.com, 2 January 2, 2026)