DONALD Trump has vowed to come to the rescue of Iranian protestors in a chilling warning after seven people were killed in unrest sweeping the region.
The president warned America is “loaded and ready” to “come to the rescue” of protesters in a post on Truth Social.
Trump added: “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protestors, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
Iran has been rocked by its biggest protests in years, with people taking to the street in a battle against the cost of living.
As unrest entered its fifth day on Thursday, reports emerged of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces.
The semi-official Fars news agency and human rights group, Hengaw, said two people died in the city of Lordegan, in south-western Iran.
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Three more people were killed in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, Fars reported, all in the west of the country.
State media has not said if those killed were protestors or members of the security forces.
But, Hengaw claims the two killed in Lordegan were protesters, naming them as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh. This is yet to be verified.
Videos posted on social media show cars set ablaze in the streets.
An eyewitness told the Guardian: “It’s a battlefield here and they [security forces] are firing mercilessly.”
Separately, state media said a member of the security forces linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed in clashes with protesters on Wednesday night.
Reports suggest this took place in the city of Kouhdasht, in the western Lorestan province.
A further 13 police officers were injured when protestors threw stones at them, Iran’s state media reported.
On Thursday evening the Tasnim news agency reported Iranian authorities in Tehran had arrested 30 people on suspicion of public order offences.
Unrest erupted after the Iranian rial slumped to a record low against the US dollar.
Protests have been reported across Tehran and eight other cities.
Ilna, a news agency linked to Iran’s labour movement, reported protests at seven of Tehran’s most prestigious universities, as well as at the technology university in the central city of Isfahan.
The student unrest followed protests by shop owners in central Tehran on Monday and the two groups unexpectedly came together to hold wider protests over the autocratic regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
It also came just a day before banks, schools and businesses across the capital and most provinces were temporarily shut to save energy during freezing weather.
Iran’s currency collapse has piled pressure on everyday life.
When protests broke out on Sunday, the dollar was trading at around 1.42million rials, up from 820,000 a year ago.
The plunge has sent import prices soaring and hammered retail traders.
Spontaneous demonstrations first broke out on Sunday at the city’s biggest mobile phone market.
They later gathered pace but remained small and largely confined to the city centre, with most shops elsewhere staying open.
President Masoud Pezeshkian met labour leaders on Tuesday and floated measures to address the crisis.
Under Iran’s system, he holds far less power than supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He wrote: “I have asked the interior minister to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters by engaging in dialogue with their representatives so that the government can do everything in its power to resolve the problems and act responsibly.”
State television reported that parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also called for “necessary measures focused on increasing people’s purchasing power”.
But he warned that foreign agents and government opponents could try to exploit the unrest.
The current protests are the most widespread Iran has seen in three years.
An uprising in 2022 was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested for allegedly breaking strict dress code rules.
Her death sparked months of turmoil, with hundreds killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested.
The protests today have not yet reached the same scale.