Senior Iranian officials on Friday warned that any US interference in the country’s ongoing protests would destabilise the region, responding sharply to US President Donald Trump’s threat to act if peaceful demonstrators are killed. The exchange has further heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran amid deadly unrest across Iran.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s warning over the ongoing protests in Iran, senior Iranian officials on Friday cautioned that any US interference would trigger instability across the region, as tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated further.
Trump warned on his Truth Social platform that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters”, the US would “come to their rescue”.
“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he wrote, without providing further details. Iranian officials strongly rejected the warning. Ali Larijani, former parliament speaker and secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, alleged on X that the US and Israel were stoking the protests, though he offered no evidence.
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مع تصريحات المسؤولين الإسرائيليين و @realDonaldTrump، أصبح ما كان يجري خلف الكواليس واضحًا. نميّز بين موقف التجار المحتجّين وأعمال العناصر المُخرِّبة، وعلى ترامب أن يدرك أن تدخّل الولايات المتحدة في هذا الشأن الداخلي سيؤدي إلى زعزعة استقرار المنطقة بأكملها وتدمير المصالح… pic.twitter.com/QPIp8pJ8Xl
— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) January 2, 2026
He warned that US intervention would lead to “chaos in the entire region” and harm American interests, adding that the US public should be aware of the risks to its soldiers deployed across the Middle East.
Larijani’s remarks appeared to reference the US military presence in the region. In June, Iran had attacked the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar following US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day conflict with Tehran.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also issued a warning, saying any intervention threatening Iran’s security would be met with force.
Meanwhile, protests across Iran have left at least se