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The Komala Party of Kurdistan, one of five major parties influential in strikes in Iran’s Kurdish regions, called on Saturday for nationwide strikes and protests.
The statement said strikes by shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in Tehran have continued and spread to other cities and provinces.
Komala condemned a violent crackdown, including the use of live fire, and the killing and wounding of protesters.
It said the current uprising was a continuation of the protests of December 2017, November 2019, and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022, in which Kurdish regions played a key role.
In its statement, Komala voiced strong support for the protests and called on all segments of society to join nationwide strikes, while urging the international community to increase pressure to halt the crackdown.
Elon Musk on Saturday congratulated US President Donald Trump on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his transfer to the United States, calling it "a win for the world and a clear message to evil dictators everywhere."
Maduro’s capture has fueled widespread debate on social media about the possibility of a similar scenario in Iran, as Trump has issued warnings to the country’s leadership during nationwide protests.
Iran on Saturday denounced the US military attack on Venezuela, accusing Washington of violating international law following reports that American forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation.
The United States carried out an overnight operation targeting Venezuela and detained Maduro, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, adding that Washington would assume control of the country for the time being and could deploy American troops if required.
In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the United States had carried out a military aggression against Venezuela, calling it a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It said the action breached fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including the prohibition on the use of force enshrined in Article 2(4), and described it as a clear act of aggression that should be condemned by the international community.
The statement said the US action undermined regional and international peace and security and warned that its consequences would extend beyond Venezuela, further eroding the international order based on the UN Charter.
Iran's Foreign Ministry urged the United Nations and other states to respond clearly to what it called an unlawful use of force, calling for measures to hold accountable those who planned and carried out what it described as crimes committed during the operation.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei also called Iran's ambassador to Caracas, emphasizing "Tehran’s principled position in condemning the US military aggression and the violation of that country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Baqaei also expressed confidence that "the Venezuelan people, by maintaining national unity and cohesion, will safeguard their independence and national interests and continue on the path of development and progress."
Elon Musk on Saturday congratulated Trump on the capture of Maduro, a staunch ally of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling it "a win for the world and a clear message to evil dictators everywhere."
Maduro’s capture has fueled widespread debate on social media about the possibility of a similar scenario in Iran, as Trump has issued warnings to the country’s leadership during nationwide protests.
Unlike his predecessors who largely stayed silent in the early days, Donald Trump issued an unusually blunt warning over the killing of demonstrators in Iran, a message Tehran appears unable to dismiss lightly given its speed, tone, and source.
On the second day of protests, he condemned the Iranian government for firing on demonstrators. On day six, he went further, warning that if the killing of protesters continued, US forces “will come to their rescue.”
This amounts to the fastest and most explicit reaction by an American president to a wave of unrest in Iran in the past 45 years. The question is whether this posture translates into concrete diplomatic steps or credible military pressure—or remains a largely symbolic deterrent message.
Within a week of the outbreak of protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic and its rulers, US President Donald Trump weighed in twice with direct comments.
On the second day of protests, he condemned the Iranian government for firing on demonstrators. On day six, he went further, warning that if the killing of protesters continued, US forces “will come to their rescue.”
This amounts to the fastest and most explicit reaction by an American president to a wave of unrest in Iran in the past 45 years. The question is whether this posture translates into concrete diplomatic steps or credible military pressure—or remains a largely symbolic deterrent message.
In 2009, former US president Barack Obama responded cautiously to Iran’s Green Movement protests. At the time, he had sent a second letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and had yet to receive a reply. Obama feared that open support for protesters could undermine the secret backchannel he was attempting to establish with Khamenei to resolve the nuclear standoff.
At the same time, his advisers warned that overt US backing could backfire: protesters might be branded as “foreign agents,” giving the government a pretext to crack down even harder.
Those concerns are far less salient for Trump, at least for now. On one hand, there is currently no meaningful or active diplomatic channel between Tehran and Washington that a sharp US stance could weaken or shut down.
On the other hand, Iranian officials have for years accused protesters of being agents of hostile powers—a charge repeated by Khamenei himself in a recent speech on the unrest—rendering the label largely meaningless. There is little indication that demonstrators now fear either foreign support or accusations of outside ties.
Years later, Obama acknowledged that his cautious approach to the Green Movement had been a mistake, arguing that the United States should support popular, pro-freedom movements wherever they arise. Trump’s swift and blunt reaction suggests he has avoided a similar error.
The Obama administration’s experience also underscores another lesson: firm rhetoric is not enough. In 2012, Obama declared that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad constituted a US “red line.”
Yet a year later, a sarin gas attack on Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held suburb to the east of Damascus, killed hundreds of civilians, but the United States did not launch a military strike. Instead, Obama pursued a diplomatic route to remove Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles.
That effort reduced—but did not end—the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and it significantly weakened Obama’s standing, and that of the United States, among Syrian opposition groups.
Trump, by contrast, appears keenly aware that unfulfilled threats erode both his personal authority and the projection of American power. He has acted on threats toward Iran twice: first, with the killing of Qassem Soleimani exactly six years ago, on January 3, 2020, and second, with a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities around 200 days ago.
On Saturday, Trump also followed through on recent threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, announcing that the United States had carried out a major operation against Venezuela and detained Maduro and his wife, removing them from the country.
Tehran moved quickly to respond to Trump’s threat against the Islamic Republic’s repressive forces targeting protesters, suggesting that Khamenei is attentive to the speed and clarity of the message and the prospect of its implementation.
