A senior Iranian official has responded to US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to intervene in violent protests, saying that the US and Israel will be the ones responsible for the killing of Iranian civilians.
Shortly after Trump’s social media post urging Iranians to "take over" government institutions, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, posted on X: "We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu."
It comes after Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting against the country's leadership, telling them "help is on its way".
Iranian authorities insisted they had regained control of the country after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday that have posed one of the biggest challenges to the leadership since it came to power in the 1979 revolution.
The heavily sanctioned country has been rocked by widespread protests in recent weeks amid a deteriorating economy and the rapid depreciation of the Iranian currency, the rial.
Trump, asked what he meant by a social media post saying "help is on its way" to protesters in Iran, told reporters in Michigan that they would have to figure it out.
"You're going to have to figure that one out. I'm sorry," Trump said in response to a question.
Trump seeks swift tactical victory
Later he told CBS News in an interview that US would take "very strong action" if the Iranian government starts hanging protesters, but did not elaborate on what those actions would be.
"I haven't heard about the hanging. If they hang them, you're going to see some things... We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," Trump said.
Asked what his policy goal in Iran is, Trump added: "The end game is to win. I like winning."
Trump alluded to seeking a swift tactical victory, similar to the earlier abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
"We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen," Trump said. "And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging – we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good."
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, met over the weekend with the eldest son of Iran’s deposed shah, Axios reported on Tuesday.
The reported meeting with Reza Pahlavi was the first contact since nationwide protests erupted in Iran that Tehran says are instigated by US and Israel.
Also on Tuesday, Iranian and Qatari officials held talks amid fears of US military action.
Larijani spoke on the phone with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister.
In a statement on X, Al Thani said he "reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-escalation efforts, as well as peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the region."
Qatar got caught in the crossfire during Israel’s 12-day war in June when Iran retaliated against US attacks on its nuclear facility by targeting US forces at Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha.
