Tehran snapped back into protest mode following two nights of relative quiet, shortly after Donald Trump warned the United States was “locked and loaded” to intervene if Iran kills peaceful demonstrators.
In a message published on his Truth Social account, Trump warned that if Iran’s rulers kill peaceful protesters, the United States would act to save the Iranian people.
"If Iran shots 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."
Iran’s leaders rejected Trump’s warning, accusing Washington of violating the UN Charter and “inciting violence and terrorism,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
Iran also warned in a letter to the UN that Tehran would “exercise its rights decisively” if attacked and hold the US fully responsible for any intervention.
Officials including Parliament Speaker Mobammad Bagher Ghalibaf and top security official Ali Larijani also threatened that US forces and bases in the region could become “legitimate targets” if Trump’s warning turned into military action.
Capital unrest
After a brief lull on Wednesday and Thursday, protests in the capital resumed in multiple districts, with crowds chanting against the ruling establishment as security forces deployed in large numbers and used tear gas and batons to disperse gatherings.
Protests were also held in dozens of other cities including the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom as well as Shiraz, Hamadan, and Zahedan, a city in Iran’s restive southeast which was n epicenter of protests in 2022.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says at least eight protesters have been killed nationwide since the latest wave of unrest began on Dec. 28.
Prince’s call
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi urged Iranians to “take control of the streets” in Tehran and other major cities through a simultaneous mass presence and road blockades, telling supporters to move in small, cohesive groups from neighborhood streets toward central arteries.
The prince said a “million-strong” wave would overwhelm security forces and could prompt some to retreat or even join the people, describing such a takeover of the capital’s streets as an essential step toward bringing down the Islamic Republic.
Prominent activists
Several prominent Iranian dissidents including renowned filmmaker Jafar Panahi and jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi issued a joint statement calling for a peaceful transition away from the Islamic Republic, saying that Iran is at a critical juncture amid mounting economic and political pressures.
“We stand with the people to reclaim the right to a dignified life, freedom, justice, human dignity, and sovereignty over our own destiny,” the statement said, published on Mohammadi's official account on X.
The signatories, including figures such as dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, political prisoners Mostafa Tajzadeh and Rasoul Qadiyani, say a renewed wave of civil resistance “taking over the streets” reflects a national will to remove what they call the illegitimate regime and build a democratic order based on popular sovereignty, justice and normal relations with the world.
Washington would step in if protesters are violently killed, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” he wrote. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
Protests turn deadly
Trump’s remarks came as protests in Iran reached a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, with at least seven protesters reported killed by security forces. Demonstrations spread to new cities, including the clerical stronghold of Qom, where crowds openly called for the downfall of the theocracy.
Earlier, a US official said the protests reflect deep public anger at years of government failure. In a written statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the United States Department of State described the unrest as an expression of the Iranian people’s “understandable anger.”
“The protests reflect the understandable anger of the Iranian people at their government's failures and excuses,” the official said, accusing Tehran of neglecting the economy, agriculture, water and electricity for decades while “squandering billions on terrorist proxies and nuclear weapons research.” The statement also cited Iran’s involvement in acts of “terrorism against the United States and its allies.”
Demonstrations were reported across dozens of locations, from Tehran and Isfahan to Lorestan, Mazandaran, Khuzestan, Hamadan and Fars. Protesters chanted slogans directly targeting the ruling system and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Pro-monarchy slogans dominated many rallies, highlighting how the unrest has moved beyond economic grievances into open political defiance. Security forces used live fire in several cities, including Nurabad in Lorestan and Hamedan in western Iran, where videos showed officers shooting at demonstrators who remained in the streets despite the crackdown.
The Ministry of Defence Export Center, known as Mindex, presents itself as the export arm of Iran’s defense ministry. It advertises more than 3,000 products across categories including armaments, rockets and missiles, aviation, marine platforms, and radar and optical systems.
The portal’s payment terms say contracts can be settled using “digital currencies,” local currencies in the buyer’s country and barter arrangements, alongside more traditional bank transfers.
Mindex’s online platform, hosted on an Iranian cloud provider already blacklisted by Washington, says decades of experience in overseas sales and says it works with a number of foreign clients.
A frequently asked questions section reassures potential buyers that “given the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding circumvention of sanctions, there is no problem in implementing the contract,” and promises that purchased products will reach their destination “as soon as possible,” FT reported.
According to the center’s own “About us” page, Mindex began its marketing activity in 1989 and is “affiliated to the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics,” (MODAFL) a ministry that has been under US sanctions since 2007 for supporting Iran’s missile and conventional arms programs.
Washington has repeatedly targeted MODAFL‑linked front companies and procurement networks, warning that foreign entities supplying or buying military hardware through such channels risk secondary sanctions and potential exclusion from the US financial system.
Recent US designations have also singled out Iran‑linked “shadow banking” and crypto networks accused of helping Tehran move money for oil and weapons sales outside formal banking channels, underscoring the risks for buyers using digital assets to pay Mindex.
US Treasury in recent months has sanctioned multiple Iran‑linked networks accused of using front companies and alternative payment channels to facilitate weapons transfers to partners such as Russia and Venezuela, warning that digital currencies do not shield transactions from enforcement.
