Iran has warned it will retaliate against any US military action as nationwide protests continue, with hundreds reported killed. The warning follows signals from Washington of possible intervention over the use of lethal force against demonstrators. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iranian leaders had contacted him and were seeking negotiations.
Iran’s parliament speaker said any American attack would make US military facilities, shipping centres in the region and Israel legitimate targets. What began as protests over soaring inflation has widened into calls for an end to clerical rule under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s attorney general has declared that anyone taking part in protests would be treated as an “enemy of God”, an offence that carries the death penalty. Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as vandals acting to please the United States president.
The government’s response in Iran has intensified sharply, with a near-total internet blackout in place since January eighth, cutting off communications and raising concerns about unchecked repression. Human rights groups report a rising death toll, with the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency verifying at least five-hundred-and-thirty-eight deaths so far, including four-hundred-and-ninety protesters and forty-eight members of the security forces. Iranian officials continue to blame foreign interference, particularly the United States and Israel. President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged economic reforms while accusing outside powers of fuelling unrest, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ruled out any retreat, describing protesters as vandals and terrorists.
Iran is facing its most serious wave of unrest since the protests of 2022-23, with nationwide demonstrations now entering a third week. The unrest was triggered on December twenty-eighth by a deepening economic crisis marked by a collapsing currency, inflation above forty percent, and widespread power and gas disruptions. What began as economic protests has rapidly broadened into open political demands, including calls for the removal of the current leadership and the return of the Pahlavi monarchy. Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi has called for coordinated nightly actions, a message that is gaining traction among demonstrators across several cities.
