ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran on Friday sent an official letter urging the UN to condemn remarks by US President Donald Trump after he said Washington is “locked and loaded” to intervene if Iran kills protesters, prompting a derisory response from the US ambassador to the international organization.

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.

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

“In a statement amounting to the incitement of violence, unrest, and terrorist acts within Iran, the President of the United States openly threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with the use of force and intervention, declaring that ‘We are locked and loaded and ready to go,’” Iran’s letter to the UN Security Council read.

“Against this backdrop, the Islamic Republic of Iran once again recalls the responsibility of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, and in particular its responsible members, under the Charter of the United Nations, to unequivocally and strongly condemn these reckless and provocative statements against Iran,” it stressed.

“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.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz offered a harsh response to the Iranian letter. 

“The Iranian regime’s whining to the UN ignores decades of sponsoring terrorism & crushing their own people,” Waltz said on Saturday. “America & [President Trump] stand firmly with Iranians yearning for freedom!”

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it is following the protests closely and called for preserving demonstrators’ right of expression.

“I call on the authorities to uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. All individuals must be able to protest peacefully and express their grievances,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said.

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

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 action against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

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.

“Moreover, under international law, the encouragement, support, or facilitation of subversive or violent activities within another State constitutes an internationally wrongful act, directly engaging the responsibility of the intervening State,” Iran said in the letter.

In June, Israel killed Iran's top military brass and nuclear scientists with airstrikes, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran, with the two trading salvos of missiles and drones for 12 days. 

Washington 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.