ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Iran following days of nationwide protests and deadly clashes between security forces and demonstrators, saying Washington is ready to come to their “rescue” should Tehran's security forces kill protesters.

Tehran’s Grand Bazaar launched strikes and protests on Sunday over the falling value of the rial against the US dollar which have subsequently spread to other provinces in the country, including Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Bushehr, Lorestan, Isfahan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Razavi Khorasan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Tehran, Qom, and Hamedan provinces, according to footage received by The New Region.

After hardliners' threats failed to halt the demonstrations, the government has claimed it is acknowledging protesters’ demands, even as heavy clashes have erupted with demonstrators mostly in minority-inhabited areas, with some cities reporting direct gunfire at demonstrators.

“If Iran shots [sic] 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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth social media account on Friday. 

The Islamic Republic has a long history of cracking down on protesters and opening fire to control demonstrations, garnering international condemnation for the use of such tactics.

Arsalan Yarahmedi, founder of the Oslo-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, told The New Region that, as of Thursday evening, four people have had been reported dead and another 45 arrested, with Kurds and Lors comprising the majority of the victims. The death toll has since rised to at least six.

Footage late Thursday showed heavy clashes erupting in southern Iran’s mostly Lor-inhabited areas and western Iran’s Kurdish regions, with videos circulating on social media showing armed security forces firing at civilians.

On Monday, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump also warned that Washington would “absolutely” and “immediately” support potential renewed Israeli military actions targeting Iran if Tehran continues developing its nuclear and missile programs.

“Now, I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” Trump said.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Thursday that Tehran is “moving forward on a sustainable path” with its nuclear program despite renewed threats of US-Israeli kinetic action against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Iran has repeatedly said that its ballistic missile program is “not subject to negotiation,” insisting on its right to defend the country, as well as its right to pursue the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Trump’s Monday comments came after reports following the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the US suggested the trip was intended to brief Trump on potential new attacks on Iran after the June war, amid Israel’s concerns over Tehran’s expanding missile and nuclear program.

In June, Israel killed top brass Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists with airstrikes, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran, with the two trading salvos of missiles and drones for 12 days. The US also bombed the key Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites in the country near the end of the conflict.

The protests carry particular significance for the state, as Iran’s economy heavily relies on the Grand Bazaar, which has rarely participated in demonstrations, especially during the country’s largest nationwide protests in 2022, when much of the crowd urged the bazaar to join a strike against the government.