A senior Iranian official on Friday condemned President Trump’s threat that the U.S. would come to the aid of protesters in the country facing violence, warning that the Islamic Republic could retaliate against American bases and troops in the region,
The Hill reports.
Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, was responding to Trump’s warning on Truth Social that his administration is “locked and loaded and ready to go” to come to rescue “peaceful protesters” if Iran shoots and “violently kills” them.
“Moreover, the disrespectful President of America should also know that with this official admission, all American centers and forces across the entire region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential adventurism,” Ghalibaf posted Friday on social platform X.
“Iranians have always been united and determined to act in the face of an aggressor enemy,” he added.
At least seven people have been killed in violence surrounding demonstrations that have taken place for nearly a week, sparked in part by the collapse of Iran’s rial currency but have increasingly included protesters shouting antigovernment slogans, The Associated Press reported.
In 2019, Trump imposed sanctions on Iranian officials in response to the regime’s violence against protesters, part of a “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions to squeeze the country’s ability to fund its nuclear programs.
The war of words between the president and Iran marks a renewed public escalation between the two countries and that comes following the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites in June alongside Israeli strikes on the country.
