Iran Unrest in Washington’s Spotlight; What Message Is Trump Sending?
WANA (Jan 02) – The recent stance of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the protests in Iran has been accompanied by numerous reactions both inside and outside of Iran. In a message published on the social network “Truth Social,” Trump announced that if protesters in Iran are “violently killed,” the United States is ready to take action to “rescue” them.
The message was quickly reflected at the international level and became a topic of debate in political circles, the media, and on social networks. Donald Trump wrote in his message: “If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
Political analysts evaluate this stance less as a sign of immediate military action and more as part of the U.S. strategy for psychological and political pressure.
According to these analysts, the use of ambiguous and threatening language could be aimed at increasing the sensitivity of global public opinion and linking Iran’s internal developments to foreign intervention scenarios.
Within this framework, Trump’s message is considered an attempt to internationalize an internal issue; an approach that has also been observed in previous U.S. foreign policy experiences.
Reaction of Iranian Officials
Although Trump’s message was published on social media on Friday—a public holiday in Iran—Iranian officials responded immediately and sharply to his remarks, describing them as an attempt to disrupt Iran’s internal situation.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was the first to react. In a message he published, he distinguished between domestic protests and foreign interference and warned about the consequences of any external intervention.
Ali Larijani said in his message: “With the statements by Israeli officials and Donald Trump, what has been going on behind the scenes is now clear. We distinguish between the stance of the protesting shopkeepers and the actions of disruptive actors, and Trump should know that U.S. interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America’s interests. The American people should know — Trump started this adventurism.”
Ali Larijani, Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Social Media / WANA News Agency
Larijani’s message is a serious warning that U.S. interference in Iran’s domestic issues cannot be without cost. Iranian officials believe that Trump’s message today is rhetoric intended to further incite protesters within Iran to employ more violence in the streets.
Ali Shamkhani, former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and head of Iran’s Supreme Defense Council, also wrote on his personal X account in response to Trump’s statements against Iran: “Any intervening hand nearing Iran’s security on pretexts will be cut off with a regret-inducing response. Iran’s national security is a red line, not material for adventurist tweets.”
Position of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, while recognizing the protests of recent days, warned against foreign interference in Iran’s internal affairs and implicitly signaled severe punishment for the United States in the region should it assist the rioters.
“As in the past, the Great People of Iran will forcefully reject any interference in their internal affairs. Similarly, our Powerful Armed Forces are on standby and know exactly where to aim in the event of any infringement of Iranian sovereignty,” Araghchi said.
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed the official position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in a message as follows: “It is enough to review the long record of American politicians’ actions for “saving the people of Iran” to grasp the depth of America’s “empathy” with the Iranian nation; from organizing the August 19, 1953 coup to shooting down the Iranian passenger airliner in 1988 to all-out support for Saddam in the 8-year war against Iran and of course the sanctions…Iranians, in dialogue and interaction with each other to solve problems, will allow no foreign intervention whatsoever. ”
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers Trump’s remarks not to be momentary, but rather a reflection of Washington’s deeply rooted logic of interventionism in the affairs of independent countries, and believes that expressions such as “readiness to act,” even when cloaked in human-rights rhetoric, constitute an explicit threat to Iran’s national sovereignty.
Reaction of the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament
The reaction of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, was also swift and blunt. He immediately wrote on his personal X account: “The shout of the Devil has grown loud because the efforts of armed field agents from intelligence services—who sought to transform the rightful protests of bazaar merchants and guilds into violent, armed urban warfare—have met with failure due to the historical awareness of the Iranian nation.”
Trump Issues Military Warning to Tehran; Iranian Officials React
WANA (Jan 02) – Donald Trump sparked a major diplomatic row with a post on the Truth Social platform, warning of direct U.S. intervention regarding the treatment of protesters in Iran. Trump wrote: “If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to rescue. […]
Ghalibaf officially declared that following Trump’s remarks, all American centers and forces throughout the region are legitimate targets for Iran.
“The disrespectful U.S. President should know that with this official confession, all American bases and forces throughout the region will be our legitimate targets in response to any potential adventurism, Ghalibaf stated.”
Reaction of Analysts and the People
Hamidreza Jalaeipour, a reformist and sociologist, mocked Trump’s remarks and wrote: “What a farce it is that the supporter and facilitator of the century’s greatest genocide, a friend to sexual abusers, and someone who is recognized in his own country as a symbol of authoritarian tendencies and a supporter of the world’s oppressors and interventions that have created nothing but death, displacement, and poverty, would threaten and preach to another country about preserving lives and human rights.”
Reza Nasri, an international law expert who lives outside Iran, has analyzed Trump’s remarks within the framework of a familiar pattern in U.S. foreign policy.
He believes that such positions can lead to the creation of conditions in which scattered violence becomes a pretext for escalating a crisis and even for foreign intervention—a pattern previously experienced in countries such as Libya.
Iranian users on social media, by sharing an image showing the number of people killed during the 12-day Israeli and U.S. attack on Iran, described Trump’s remarks as deceptive.
Using the hashtag #ShutUpTrump, users are seeking to send a unified message from Iran. They consider the protests to be an internal matter and view U.S. and Israeli support for the protesters as harmful to the protesters themselves and as an anti-Iranian provocation.
In contrast, Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic and supporters of the West are calling for U.S., Israeli, and Western support for the recent protests. They sometimes go so far as to call on the United States to enter into a military confrontation with Iran in the hope that this would lead to the overthrow of the current government.
Reza Pahlavi visits Israel. April 2023. Social media / WANA News Agency
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Mohammad Reza Shah, the former Shah of Iran, who now lives in the United States, is reportedly attempting to intensify these protests with the help of the CIA and Mossad. The problem is that Reza Pahlavi has no popularity inside Iran, and most of his supporters are individuals with little influence, generally viewed as radical, opportunistic, and lacking social credibility.
The terrorist cult known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has also called for playing a greater role in the recent protests; however, this group is among the most notorious organizations inside Iran. All protest groups consider the support of the MKO terrorist cult for their movement to be harmful to the protests.
Hardline reformists and pro-West figures inside Iran (the faction aligned with supporters of Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, former presidents of Iran) are seeking to push protest gatherings toward greater confrontation, but they do not want to bear the cost of escalating tensions themselves.
The moderate reformist faction, during the protests related to the Mahsa Amini case and the recent protests, has remained silent and does not support violence in organizing protest gatherings. By declaring a policy of neutrality, this group seeks both to avoid incurring the government’s wrath and to remain popular among protesters.
The children killed by Israel in the 12-day war. Social media/ WANA News Agency
So far, in cyberspace and among the public, Trump’s message and his support for the protesters have mostly been met with negative reactions. Iran’s national media continuously broadcasts the views of officials, experts, and citizens opposing Trump’s message and U.S. interference in Iran’s internal affairs.
Overall, Donald Trump’s recent remarks about unrest in Iran have been made in an atmosphere marked by a long history of mistrust between the two countries. Tehran believes that the experiences of Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan show that America’s claim of “supporting the people” often leads to destruction and widespread killing.
Iran’s police and security forces are on alert. No one knows whether the protests will continue in the coming days or whether the flames of unrest will die out sooner than Tel Aviv and Washington had planned.
