Widening Anti Regime Protests Shake Iran as Trump Issues Direct Warning
Source: X
Executive Summary
Nationwide protests in Iran have expanded rapidly from economic demonstrations into open anti regime unrest, with at least 10 to 15 people reported killed and hundreds arrested. The unrest is straining an already weakened Iranian leadership as President Donald Trump publicly threatens US intervention if Iranian security forces violently suppress protesters, escalating both internal pressure and external risk for the regime.
Analysis
Iran’s leadership is facing one of its most serious domestic challenges in years as economic driven protests spread across much of the country and evolve into calls for regime change.
Protests began with Tehran shopkeepers and traders angered by inflation and the collapse of the rial, then spread to more than 100 locations across at least 22 to 25 provinces, according to human rights groups and opposition reporting.
Protesters have increasingly chanted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic, while security forces have responded with live fire in multiple cities, killing at least 10 protesters and wounding dozens more.
President Trump warned publicly that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States would “come to their rescue,” a threat Iranian leaders said makes US bases in the region legitimate targets.
Supreme Leader Khamenei labeled protesters “rioters” and “enemy mercenaries,” signaling a likely hardline response and limiting President Masoud Pezeshkian’s ability to pursue dialogue or reform.
The unrest comes at a moment of exceptional vulnerability for Tehran. Iran’s economy is under severe strain from renewed UN sanctions, high inflation, currency collapse, and recent fuel price increases. The regime is also weakened by the loss or degradation of key allies across the region, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad government in Syria, and now Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by US forces.
