Trump and Iran Exchange Threats Amid Escalating Protests Following U.S. Nuclear Strikes

Friday, January 2, 2026

President Donald Trump and top Iranian officials exchanged sharp threats Friday as economic protests spread across parts of Iran, further inflaming tensions between the countries after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Trump initially wrote on his Truth Social platform, warning Iran that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.” At least seven people have been killed so far in violence surrounding the demonstrations, which were sparked in part by the collapse of Iran’s rial currency.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote, without elaborating.

Shortly after, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, alleged on social platform X that Israel and the U.S. were stoking the demonstrations. He offered no evidence for his claim, which Iranian officials have made repeatedly during years of protests across the country.

“Trump should know that intervention by the U.S. in the domestic problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of the U.S. interests,” Larijani wrote on X, a platform blocked by the Iranian government. “The people of the U.S. should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers.”

Larijani’s remarks likely referenced America’s extensive military presence in the region. Iran had attacked Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June after the U.S. strikes on three nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war on the Islamic Republic.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who previously served as the council’s secretary for years, warned that “any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut.”

“The people of Iran properly know the experience of ‘being rescued’ by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza,” he added on X.

The current protests, now in their sixth day, have become the largest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the demonstrations have yet to be countrywide and have not been as intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities.

Iran’s civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal it wants to negotiate with protesters. However, Pezeshkian acknowledged that he has limited options as Iran’s rial has rapidly depreciated, with $1 now costing approximately 1.4 million rials. This economic crisis sparked the initial protests.

The demonstrations, rooted in economic hardship, have also heard demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocratic system.

Months after the war, Iran stated it is no longer enriching uranium at any site within its borders, aiming to signal openness to potential negotiations over its atomic program to ease sanctions. However, talks have yet to commence as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned Tehran against reconstituting its nuclear capabilities.