‘Locked & loaded’: Trump threatens military intervention in Iran if regime shoots at peaceful protesters

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military intervention in Iran if the regime violently suppressed peaceful protests against it, as the mass protests in Iran entered their sixth day on Friday.

“If Iran shots [sic] 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,” Trump wrote on the social media platform, Truth Social.

Ali Larijani, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, quickly seized on the statement to reinforce the regime’s narrative, blaming the U.S. and Israel for the protests, which it claims were mainly about economic issues.

مع تصريحات المسؤولين الإسرائيليين و @realDonaldTrump، أصبح ما كان يجري خلف الكواليس واضحًا. نميّز بين موقف التجار المحتجّين وأعمال العناصر المُخرِّبة، وعلى ترامب أن يدرك أن تدخّل الولايات المتحدة في هذا الشأن الداخلي سيؤدي إلى زعزعة استقرار المنطقة بأكملها وتدمير المصالح… pic.twitter.com/QPIp8pJ8Xl

— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) January 2, 2026

The protests were started mainly by shopkeepers and merchants in the capital last weekend, but have since spread across the country and expanded to include many students and young people. While the protests initially featured demands for economic improvement, they have since involved chants against dictatorship and demanded the return of the monarchy.

According to media reports, seven people have been killed and dozens arrested by regime forces so far.

Larijani wrote on 𝕏, “With statements from Israeli officials and Donald Trump, what was happening behind the scenes has become clear. We distinguish between the position of the protesting merchants and the actions of the sabotage elements, and Trump must realize that U.S. intervention in this internal matter will lead to destabilizing the entire region and destroying American interests.”

“The American people must know that Trump is the one who started this adventure, and they should pay attention to the safety of their soldiers,” he wrote, threatening an Iranian response against U.S. troops in the region.

After the U.S. destroyed three Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran struck the American Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as retaliation.

ابتدا بازاریان. بعد دانشجویان. حالا سرتاسرکشور. ایرانی‌ها متحد هستند. زندگی‌های متفاوت، یک خواسته: به صدای ما و به حقوق ما احترام بگذارید. #ایران #اعتراضات_ایران #همراه‌_با_ایران #حقوق_بشر pic.twitter.com/uQTTt5ca6K

— USAbehFarsi (@USABehFarsi) December 31, 2025

Avigdor Liberman, the head of the hawkish Israeli opposition party Yisrael Beitenu, wrote that Israel would be likely to join an American military intervention: "I'm sure that in such a case, Israel would also join the move."

The U.S. State Department has been expressing support for the protests on its account on 𝕏. On Wednesday, it published a map with locations of demonstrations across Iran, writing, “First the bazaaris. Then the students. Now across the country. Iranians are united. Different lives, one demand: Respect our voice and our rights.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far declined to publicly comment on the demonstrations, reportedly to prevent the Islamic Republic from blaming Israel or possibly targeting the country militarily to distract from the protests and the rough economic situation.

Nevertheless, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has expressed support, while former Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who now serves as minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, has pursued a one-woman campaign to support the protests.

Iranian people, you are not alone! I call the world to hear your cry for freedom & to support you!

Let’s make Iran great again!@PahlaviReza

مردم عزیز ایران, شما تنها نیستید! از جامعه بین‌المللی می‌خواهم صدای آزادی‌خواهی شما را بشنود و از شما حمایت کند!
بیایید عظمت را به… pic.twitter.com/MKaZ6ayr6y

— גילה גמליאל - Gila Gamliel (@GilaGamliel) January 1, 2026

“Iranian people, you are not alone! I call the world to hear your cry for freedom & to support you! Let’s make Iran great again,” she wrote on Thursday, along with a video message telling protesters, “Israel is with you and we support you in every way possible.”

“The position expressed by Gamliel is her own and not the position of Israel,” an Israeli official told Ynet News. “We must be very careful that there is no linkage to Israel. What is happening there is just the beginning, and it takes time. It can flare up and it can die down. These are processes. In any case, Israel needs to refrain from making statements.”

Despite the ongoing protests, Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran and Shiite Axis program at the Israeli security think tank INSS, dampened expectations of an imminent regime collapse in a post on 𝕏.

He explained that the number of protests hasn’t yet reached a critical mass and is still relatively small compared to previous uprisings, with only "several dozen to hundreds at each location, totaling several thousand protesters."

There is no “organized cross-sector coalition,” and the regime has not deployed all of its suppression capabilities, he added.

The regime’s “playbook” for suppression, Zimmt wrote, is “first use police, then move to special anti-riot forces and Basij, in severe cases – activate the Revolutionary Guards and special units.”

For now, the regime has only used the police and Basij militias to combat the protests. Zimmt noted that there are currently “no indications of erosion in the capabilities or determination of the enforcement and suppression forces.”