Iranian lawmakers on Monday likened US President Donald Trump to the biblical Pharaoh and praised Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as Moses, in rhetoric aired during a parliamentary session amid heightened tensions with Washington.
In a statement read aloud in Iran’s parliament, lawmakers said Khamenei would “make Trump and his allies taste humiliation.”
Addressing Trump directly, the statement said Iran’s leader would “drown you in the sea of the anger of believers and the oppressed of the world, to serve as a lesson for the world of arrogance.”
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf later described Trump as “disrespectful” following a closed-door session of lawmakers, saying Khamenei had set the country’s course without fear of the US president.
“Khamenei has spent his life confronting corrupt arrogant powers such as Trump,” Ghalibaf said.
He also described the ongoing protests in Iran as an American-Israeli plot, adding that the United States had once again failed and that Trump was “desperate” and showing contradictory behavior.
He said actions taken by the United States against Iran over the past two weeks would constitute “clear crimes” in any fair international court, comparing recent developments to the pager operation in Lebanon. In September 2024, thousands of electronic devices intended for use by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously in two separate events across Lebanon and Syria.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the United States and Israel of fomenting unrest inside the country, allegations denied by Western governments.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen sharply in recent weeks, as Iran faces widespread protests at home and renewed international pressure over its internal security crackdown.
Iran’s supreme leader accused the US president of orchestrating unrest and committing crimes against the Iranian nation, escalating his rhetoric against Washington as authorities continue to frame recent protests as a foreign-backed plot.
Ali Khamenei in his Saturday speech blamed the United States for casualties, damage and what he described as slander against Iran, directly targeting President Donald Trump for encouraging unrest and promising support to protesters.
“We consider the US president a criminal for the casualties, damages, and the slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. He further described the recent protests as “an American plot” and accused Washington of seeking to “devour Iran.”
Supreme leader links unrest to Washington
Trump, Khamenei said, had personally intervened, accusing him of making statements that emboldened demonstrators and pledging military backing. “Trump himself intervened in this unrest, made statements, encouraged the rioters, and said we will provide military support,” he added.
The events, he said, were planned by Americans with the aim of asserting control over Iran, repeating a long-standing narrative that external forces are behind domestic dissent. He also accused the US president of misrepresenting those involved in the unrest, saying Trump portrayed “vandals” as the Iranian nation.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8 and 9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, according to senior government and security sources speaking to Iran International.
The killing was carried out on the direct order of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with the explicit knowledge and approval of the heads of all three branches of government, and with an order for live fire issued by the Supreme National Security Council, Iran International has learned.
Warning to protesters and alleged backers
Khamenei issued a warning that extended beyond street protests to those he described as "instigators" at home and abroad.
The leader of the Islamic Republic said he does not intend to steer the country toward war but will not let "domestic criminals" go, while also acknowledging that “several thousand people” were killed during widespread protests across Iran.
“The Iranian nation, just as it broke the back of the riot, must also break the back of those who instigated it.”
Authorities and society, he added, would not relent in pursuing those blamed for the unrest. “The Iranian nation will not let go of the domestic and international criminals behind this unrest,” Khamenei said.
The United States sanctioned Iran's influential security chief on Thursday along with top military officers it accused of being behind a deadly crackdown on protests, ramping up Washington's standoff with Tehran as it weighs a potential attack.
The designation of Larijani cites his affiliation to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Elevated to leadership of Iran's Supreme National Security Council last year, he is a veteran security and political insider of the theocracy.
Larijani, the treasury said in a statement, was "one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people."
"LARIJANI, Ali (Arabic: علی لاریجانی) (a.k.a. LARIJANI, Ali Ardeshir), Tehran, Iran; DOB 03 Jun 1958; POB Najaf, Iraq; nationality Iran; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions; Gender Male; Passport D10010646 (Iran) expires 05 Sep 2027 (individual) [IRAN-EO13876] (Linked To: KHAMENEI, Ali Husseini)," the entry on the US Treasury Department's website read.
Other sanctions targeted top officers in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps including provincial commanders.
The Treasury also added 13 entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, including Fardis Prison and companies allegedly linked to US-sanctioned Iranian trade in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
“The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“At the direction of President Trump, the Treasury Department is sanctioning key Iranian leaders involved in the brutal crackdown against the Iranian people. Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”
The United States is moving a carrier strike group toward the Persian Gulf as President Trump has mooted attacking the country for its killing of protestors.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8-9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, senior government and security sources told Iran International.
"Elements of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have even attacked wounded protesters in one hospital in Ilam Province, firing tear gas and metal pellets into the hospital grounds and assaulting patients, family members, and medical workers," the treasury added.
"The officials sanctioned today—and their organizations—bear responsibility for the thousands of deaths and injuries of their fellow citizens as protests erupted in each of these provinces."
Any US military action against Iran risks falling short if it mirrors past “one-off” strikes without sustained political and economic pressure, analysts warned during an Iran International Insight town hall on Wednesday amid mounting fears of a US attack.
US President Donald Trump signaled on Tuesday that he was leaning toward a military strike on Iran when he said Iranian protesters should keep up the demonstrations and that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8-9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, senior government and security sources told Iran International.
Joel Rayburn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Robert Satloff, the Executive Director of the Washington Institute, believe that limited military action by the United States may briefly punish Tehran's abuses but is unlikely to stop violence unless it is followed by a broader campaign.
“In April 2017, the president responded to Bashar al Assad's use of chemical weapons by doing airstrikes. We did not follow that up with a maximum pressure campaign or a political campaign,” Rayburn said. “One year later, he used them again.”
Rayburn argued that the lesson from Syria was clear: “We can’t do this just by one-off military strikes. They have the impact, but we have to have a campaign and we have to use all the tools at our disposal.”
“We can’t just do something and move on,” he said. “If the objective is to stop the killing, then the tools have to stay in place until that objective is met.”
Satloff said he does not like the notion of a strike. "A strike sounds like something that you do and then you’re done and that you can then turn to whatever next international problem is on your agenda.”
He said the current moment presents a more direct test for the Trump administration. “Will the president’s actions bring an end to the carnage? That’s the key right now.”
Trump said on Wednesday he had been informed that the killing in Iran has stopped and Tehran would not execute any of the protesters.
Satloff cautioned against reading too much into claims that violence inside Iran may have eased.
“If indeed the killing has stopped… terrific,” Satloff said during the town hall moderated by Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
“But if the killing continues tomorrow, the day after, then that tweet will mean nothing and the president will know it.”
He said the 2017 strikes on Syria imposed a cost but did not fundamentally change the regime’s behavior until they were paired later with broader sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
“It was only after the second time that the US government and our allies finally said… we have to have a campaign,” Rayburn said.
Satloff argued that Iran presents a different but related challenge, because Trump has explicitly framed his objective as stopping the killing of civilians.
“This is somewhat different than partial punishment and partial deterrence,” he said, adding that Iran now represents “a much more visible, tangible test.”
Beyond strikes: cyber, communications
Both speakers stressed that military force is only one option, and not necessarily the first one Washington should use.
Satloff argued the US should focus on “leveling the playing field” between protesters and the Iranian security apparatus.
“Let’s find some way to shut down their communications so that they can’t talk to themselves and orchestrate this nationwide crackdown,” he said. “We have ways of shutting down the communication system employed by the regime.”
Rayburn said the administration could immediately escalate non-military pressure by fully restoring what he described as the president’s early-term directive to reimpose maximum pressure on Iran.
“There is no reason not to be fully implementing the maximum pressure campaign,” he said. “That hasn’t been fully implemented yet. It can be.”
Rayburn added that Iran is now “in an even more brittle state” than during Trump’s first term.
“They are not resilient to that kind of pressure,” he said. “I think the Iranian regime wouldn’t survive that.”
'Narrow targets, civilian risks, and credibility'
While emphasizing non-kinetic options, Satloff outlined what he would recommend if military action became unavoidable.
If violence continued, he said, US action should be tightly focused on security forces responsible for repression.
“I would target very specifically the barracks and the facilities of the IRGC and the Basij,” Satloff said, while warning that civilian casualties could quickly undermine US credibility.
“I think we have to be very careful to avoid civilians,” he said, noting that past strikes in the region showed how quickly public perception can turn when non-combatants are killed.
The United States launched airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June in the middle of a 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
The Israeli strikes began after Tehran ignored a 60-day deadline set by President Trump to reach a deal over its disputed nuclear program.
Republican senators on Tuesday threw their weight behind a US attack against Iran, framing potential intervention as a path to regime change welcomed by protesters, as Democrats urged restraint and warned of backlash in interviews with Iran International.
“Help is on the way,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. “Regime change is a result of the people not wanting to live in a country where a 16-year-old girl can be killed for not wearing the headscarf.”
“They don’t want to live a country governed by an Ayatollah who’s a religious fanatic,” he added. “I am following the people. They want a new life.”
Graham said the fall of the Islamic Republic would have major regional consequences.
“If this regime falls, it will be a godsend to America,” he said. “The largest state sponsor of terrorism will fall, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the good people of Iran will be in charge.”
Asked about timing, Graham said, “I’ll leave it up to the president, but if you saw his tweet today, I would say soon, because if we let it go much longer, people are going to doubt.”
Senator Markwayne Mullin also warned Tehran to take President Donald Trump’s threats seriously.
“The murderous regime and Iran needs to pay attention to what the president said,” Mullin told Iran International.
“The president made it very clear if you’re killing the innocent or simply protesting that he’ll come to the rescue and the president doesn’t bluff.”
“But it’s always on his timing when we’re ready to go,” Mullin added.
By contrast, Democratic senators urged restraint.
“My heart is broken for the people of Iran who are protesting, understandably, the economic failures and the repression of that regime,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said. “I think we should be very, very careful about any military operation there because it would backfire and actually bolster the regime.”
Senator Dick Durbin also cautioned against US intervention.
“I’m very concerned with the situation in Iran and statements made by President Trump about the demonstrators,” Durbin said. “I think we need to take care to make sure that we don’t overstep our boundaries.”
Referring to the Iraq war, he added: “When I was one of the 23 who voted against the invasion of Iraq, and I still think that that was the right vote, maybe one of the most important votes of my career.”
As Iran steps up a deadly crackdown on nationwide demonstrations, some analysts warned that if US President Donald Trump does not act on his vow to protect protestors, the unrest he helped galvanize may be stamped out.
Trump said on Sunday that Iranian officials had reached out seeking talks on a nuclear deal and said the United States may meet with them after repeatedly warning Tehran against killing demonstrators and mooting "very strong" military options.
Former British Army officer and military analyst Andrew Fox told Iran International that the Islamic Republic is deliberately applying maximum force early to crush the protests before Washington can act decisively.
“If (Trump) limits his intervention to just rhetoric, then clearly that is, of course, strategic restraint, but also an absolute betrayal at a critical moment,” Fox said.
“He’s made promises. It’s very clear that there were promises that the Americans were not ready to deliver.”
Trump, in a post on Truth Social last week, warned that the United States is “locked and loaded” and ready to intervene in Iran if authorities violently suppress demonstrators — statements that analysts say emboldened many to take to the streets.
“It’s questionable that this many people would have protested had Mr. Trump not made those promises,” Fox said. “So at the moment,” he added, “America potentially has blood on its hands quite frankly.”
Publicly, Iranian officials struck a defiant tone. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was open to negotiations but also “fully prepared for war,” insisting the situation inside the country was under control.
Behind the scenes, however, US officials say Tehran is sending a different message.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said an Iranian official had reached out to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff “expressing a far different tone than what you’re seeing publicly.”
Axios earlier reported a phone call between Araghchi and Witkoff during which the two sides discussed both the protests and Iran’s nuclear program.
On the ground, the crackdown has intensified amid a near-total internet shutdown.
Medics and eyewitnesses told Iran International that the preliminary death toll over more than two weeks of unrest had surged in recent days to as many as 2,000 people.
The full scale remains impossible to verify due to communications blackouts.
New evidence suggests the state response is being conducted as a wartime operation.
A physician who treated large numbers of wounded protesters described mass-casualty conditions, overwhelmed hospitals, and the use of live ammunition and military-grade weapons by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij forces according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
The doctor said security forces operated under orders that eliminated accountability and treated civilian protests as a battlefield scenario, with injured protesters systematically identified inside hospitals and communications deliberately shut down.
To intervene or not?
Trump’s own mixed messaging, analysts say, risks compounding the damage.
“President Trump’s comments on Air Force One contained something for everyone in them,” said Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), pointing to the combination of military threats, diplomacy with Tehran and outreach to the opposition.
While unpredictability can have tactical benefits, Brodsky warned that a US meeting with Iran’s leadership now “will provide relief for the regime.”
“It can prop-up the currency while demoralizing the Iranian freedom fighters on the ground,” he said. “There is great benefit for Iran in a negotiating process with the US. But no benefit for the US.”
Such talks, Brodsky said, would be “perceived by the Iranian people as external American intervention on the side of the Islamic Republic, not the Iranian people.”
“We should be giving time, space, and resources to the Iranian people,” he said, “not the Islamic Republic.”
Confidence that US military action was imminent has meanwhile begun to waver.
“Do I believe President Trump will strike Iran? Yesterday I was more confident of an attack, today, not quite as much,” said Dr. Eric Mandel, director of the Middle East Political Information Network (MEPIN).
Mandel said he had spoken with Israeli analysts saying they were confident Trump would strike but “did not know sooner or later.”
He said Washington still retains options short of a full-scale war, including seizing oil tankers tied to Iran’s shadow fleet exporting more than two million barrels of oil a day, CIA covert actions, cyber operations, kinetic action against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij and restoring communications through satellite internet systems such as Starlink.
Trump said Sunday he would speak to Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran.
As the death toll rises and Iran remains largely cut off from the outside world, analysts warn the moment for measures is rapidly disappearing.
What comes next, they say, will determine not only the fate of Iran’s uprising — but whether US warnings are remembered as deterrence or as words that raised hope just long enough to deepen a sense of betrayal.