Two die and third person missing after coastal search
Iran protests turn deadly with at least eight killed as unrest spreads nationwide, escalating US Iran tensions after Trump warned of possible intervention.
Iran's foreign minister has said that Donald Trump's warning that the US would intervene if peaceful protesters were killed was "reckless and dangerous."
Abbas Araghchi's comments came after the US president said Washington would "help" protesters participating in demonstrations over Iran's economy. He wrote in a short social media post: "We are ready and waiting to go."
Araghchi hinted that Iran's military was on standby and that in the event of an attack, "they know exactly where to target."
By Saturday morning, at least eight people were reported to have been killed in the week-long protests.
Trump wrote on Friday: "If Iran shoots peaceful protesters and violently kills them, which they are prone to do, the United States of America will come to their aid."
The US president did not specify what action Washington might take. Previously, it has launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, which were met with a retaliatory attack on a US base in Qatar.
"Given President Trump's deployment of the National Guard within US borders, he should know better than anyone that criminal attacks on public property cannot be tolerated."
He added that Iran would "strongly reject any interference in its internal affairs."
Meanwhile, an Iranian police spokesperson said that authorities would not allow what he called "the enemy" to "turn unrest into chaos."
The protests have spread to several cities and towns, and there have been reports of clashes between security forces and protesters.
The protests began in Tehran, where shopkeepers were angered by another sharp drop in the value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar in the open market.
Software Services
 |
Start your own gaming platform for just $3,000 |
By Tuesday, university students had joined in, and the protests had spread to several cities, with people chanting slogans against the country's religious rulers. According to the semi-official Fars news agency and the Hengaw human rights group, two people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the southwestern city of Lordegan. They said the two were protesters and identified them as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.
Fars reported that three people were killed in Azna, while another person was killed in Kuhdasht, all in the west of the country. It did not specify whether they were protesters or members of the security forces. One death was reported in Fooladshahr in central Iran, and another in Marvdasht in the south.
These protests are the most widespread since the uprising that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in custody in 2022, who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly, but they are not on the same scale.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said he will listen to the protesters' "legitimate demands."
However, the country's Prosecutor General, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with a "decisive response."
Iran's UN Ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, urged the UN Security Council to condemn Trump's statement in a letter to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council on Friday.
"Iran will exercise its rights decisively and proportionally," he wrote in the letter. "The United States is fully responsible for any consequences resulting from these unlawful threats and any subsequent escalation."
Thank you for reading this content.
Thank you for reading this content.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
