US President Donald Trump on Friday issued his latest threat to attack Iran militarily, warning in a social media post that the United States is “ready to go” if Tehran intensifies its crackdown on ongoing street protests.
“If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are locked and loaded.”
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, quickly hit back, writing on X that “Trump should know that American interference in this issue is equivalent to chaos in the entire region and will destroy America’s interests.”
Trump’s post came days after the president suggested, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he would support another round of military strikes against Iran after greenlighting the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities last year.
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), said in response to Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu that the Israeli prime minister “came to the US with the goal of moving the goalposts for military action on Iran.”
“Trump’s comments are a dangerous signal the president may have taken the bait,” Abdi warned. “The US should not be involved in joining, supporting, or enabling another war on Iran for Israel. The president should instead be pursuing a diplomatic resolution to take war with Iran off the table for Americans, not continuing to follow Netanyahu into a quagmire.”
“President Trump likely views his own reckless comments as diplomatic posturing to pressure Iran to the table,” Abdi added. “But such rhetoric risks seriously backfiring and is more likely to remove diplomatic off-ramps, which also serves Netanyahu’s agenda — not America’s.”
“A familiar playbook is unfolding: Israeli government officials and their allies are cynically co-opting the legitimate grievances of ordinary Iranians to advance their own agenda of militarism and outside-led regime change.”
The protests in Iran began last weekend in response to deteriorating economic conditions, specifically the collapse of the nation’s currency. Analyst Sina Toossi noted on his Substack, Dissident Foreign Policy, that the demonstrations, which now include students, were “sparked by a group of mobile phone and technology merchants in Tehran going on strike.”
“From there, the protests spilled into surrounding streets of the capital and, over subsequent days, into other cities across the country,” Toossi wrote. “As they spread, economic grievances increasingly mixed with overt anti-government slogans, as seen in past protest movements.”
Reports indicate that several protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces.
NIAC’s Etan Mabourakh and Ehsan Zahedani wrote Wednesday that “as protests erupt across Iran in response to economic collapse and broken promises of reform, a familiar playbook is unfolding: Israeli government officials and their allies are cynically co-opting the legitimate grievances of ordinary Iranians to advance their own agenda of militarism and outside-led regime change.”
“The Iranian people’s struggle for dignity, economic justice, and freedom is their own,” they added. “It deserves self-aware solidarity from the diaspora that asserts their self-determination—not Western ‘salvation’ in the form of more bombs on Tehran.”
This article, originally published by Common Dreams, is republished under a Creative Commons license.
If “Operation Rising Lion” was such a success for Israel, this would not be happening. Therefore, “Operation Rising Lion” failed.
The “rising lion” these imbeciles are referring to is Shah Pahlavi, living in exile in the USA waiting to take over Iran. These imbeciles wish to bring back a backwards monarchic system to Iran. The so called “democracy” champions backing monarchy. This is the TRUE face of the fake Western system.
Seems like it’s ongoing. Bye bye mad Mullahs
Wishful thinking, your Westerners always blow things out of proportion. I bet you have no idea just how much data has been leaked by Iran recently about Netanyanu’s inner cirlce and many Israeli ministers and unit 8200 operatives. The leaks are remarkable. For the supposed tech security world leader, this is absolutely embarasing and damaging.
Iran is learning well from its attackers to hit back. These protests are distractions
Seems like the protests are widening. Hope there are more empty Dacha in Moskau !
Zionists are a one trick pony. These people are overrated, Jews claiming they are “gods chosen” is nothing but dangerous propaganda that gives them the self proclaimed right to behave like chimpanzees with American backing. Israel is THE source of instability in the region. They have never been in the business of constructing civilizations, and never will be. Wreckers and vandals is what they are.
You can only imagine the types of conversations that go within Netanyahu’s circle – these mental midgets spend most of their time plotting schemes, killings and undermining other countries when they can just sit down and talk. But they are handicapped in that department by their lousy religion, Judaism, and its intolerant Talmud book. They try to make Islam the problem but remember, they were the settlers who invaded Islamic lands, bringing their European neanderthal behaviors with them.
Is the Iranian regime popular ?
The Iranian people were attacked and killed by the Israelis with the US playing the Highway Patrol. They know who is talking.
Doesn’t explain why the mad mullahs are so unpopular
US PLEASE take the FIRST SHOT against Iran👌
This will give Iran the justification to COMPLETELY EXTERMINATE ISRAEL PERMANENTLY. World will THANK IRAN for extermination of the BIGGEST TERRORIST on the planet.
Protest primer 101:
A real revolution comes from ALL walks of life and ages.
A fake CIA backed color coup comes from mostly university student groups, the highly impressionable crowd of young naive and gullible dupes who use social media. Remember Hong Kong in 2019 with Joshua Wong leading the CIA backed unrest. He spent much time talking to his handlers from the US embasy.
Oh yes, it’s 4by2 color revolutions. Except the mad mullahs are soooo popular. Hello 2026 and a few mullahs decorating lamposts.
I think they already have. Yet Israel still exists