Iranian officials on Saturday opposed President Donald Trump’s threat to intervene if more protesters are killed amid civil unrest caused by the declining value of its currency. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Iranian leaders took exception to President Donald Trump’s threat to intervene if the Iranian government continues killing protesters while cracking down on growing civil unrest amid a collapsing economy.
Trump on Friday threatened U.S. intervention by rescuing protesters if Iran continues to harm them, but Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned against doing so on Saturday.
Araghchi in a social media post said Iran’s military is standing by and knows “exactly where to aim” if Trump ordered a U.S. intervention on Iranian soil.
“Given President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard within U.S. borders, he of all people should know that criminal attacks on public property cannot be tolerated,” Araghchi said.
Any action by the United States would cause Iranian officials to “forcefully reject any interference in their internal affairs,” he said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged that it is “fair” for citizens to protest the country’s economic problems, but he said “rioters must be put in their place.”
The BBC reported at least eight have died during the protests that began late last week in Tehran and spread to other cities as the nation’s currency plummeted in value.
Two have died in conflicts with Iranian security personnel in Lordegan, and another occurred in Marvdasht in southern Iran.
Three more died in Azna and another in Kouhdasht in western Iran, and another death occurred in Fuladshahr in central Iran, according to the BBC, which is unable to verify the deaths.
An unnamed White House official on Saturday downplayed Trump’s comment and called it a “strong warning” that has not been acted on, CNN reported.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., supported the president in a social media post on Friday and called Iran a “weakened” country “run by religious nazis” and credited Trump’s policies with weakening its economy.
“On the peace and standing up to evil front, President Trump is on pace to surpass the great Ronald Reagan,” Graham said.
“It is time to Make Iran Great Again,” he added, and then predicted the “demise of Hamas and Hezbollah in 2026.”
Graham said doing so would make it possible to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
