US President Donald Trump has said that Iranians were “looking at freedom,” as protests continued to spread across the country, adding that Washington was ready to offer support.
“Iran is looking at freedom, perhaps like never before,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday.
“The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Iran has witnessed waves of protests since late December, largely due to a steep decline in the value of the Iranian rial and deteriorating economic conditions. The demonstrations started on December 28 near Tehran's Grand Bazaar and later expanded to several cities.
There are no official estimates on casualties.
On Friday, Trump said Iran was “in big trouble” as unrest grew, adding that Washington was closely monitoring developments and warning authorities against using lethal force against protesters.
Iran has accused the US and Israel of fomenting the unrest, with officials warning that security forces and the judiciary "will show no tolerance whatsoever towards saboteurs."
Iran "has now been offline for 48 hours," London-based internet monitoring group NetBlocks said.
Telemetry indicates the nationwide internet restriction "remains firmly in place," the group stated on X.
