The US leader has pledged to "come to the rescue" of citizens who took to the streets this week in protest of the theocratic government's economic policies.

10:03, Fri, Jan 2, 2026 Updated: 10:04, Fri, Jan 2, 2026

President Trump Meets With Israeli PM Netanyahu At His Palm Beach Estate

The US President says he will 'come to the rescue' of protesters in Iran (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump has warned Iran that if peaceful protesters are shot and violently killed, the US will come to their rescue, with forces already "locked and loaded and ready to go". Demonstrations have broke out in the Middle Eastern country in recent days sparked by its ailing economy, with at least six people killed in cities including Lordegan and Azna over the last week. As well as being motivated by economic issues including rising costs, protesters have called for an end to the rule of Iran's supreme leader, with online videos showing people chanting: "Shameless! Shameless!"

Mr Trump waded into the ongoing tension on Friday, pledging to assist peaceful protesters if they are met with violence from the Iranian government. "If Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue," he wrote on Truth Social. "We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

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Iran Traders Protest (25363522315836)

Protesters have taken to the streets of cities including capital Tehran in protest of the government (Image: AP)

Iran's economy has struggled in the wake of the US reimposing sanctions in 2018, when Mr Trump withdrew from an international nuclear agreement during his first term.

The plummeting of Iran's currency and a 40% inflation rate have been the main factors behind the public unrest, according to experts, with the US dollar trading at 1.38 million rials on Wednesday, compared to 430,000 in 2022.

Recent fatalities in Iran mark a step-up in the theocratic government's efforts to contain public discontent, with demonstrations slowing in the capital of Tehran but expanding elsewhere, including into rural regions.

They have become the largest-scale in the country since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was being held in police custody triggered nationwide outrage.

The rial was trading at 32,000 to the dollar when the 2015 nuclear accord was introduced, lifting international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on the Iranian nuclear programme, before the deal unravelled in 2018.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian previously hit back at the US President in a war of words over the reconstruction of Iran's nuclear programme, after Mr Trump suggested he would launch military strikes if any attempts to rebuild supplies are suspected.

Mr Pezeshkian wrote on X on December 30: "Answer of Islamic Republic of Iran to any cruel aggression will be harsh and discouraging."

He also suggested last month that Iran was already "in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe", who "don't want our country to remain stable".