America is “locked and loaded” and can go in at any moment, the president has said
US President Donald Trump has promised to assist the Iranian protesters if needed, saying that Washington was ready to intervene at any moment. The Islamic Republic has been hit by the worst unrest since 2022, triggered by an economic crisis.
The demonstrations began in late December when merchants in Tehran went on strike after the national currency, the rial, hit a record low of about 1.44 million to the dollar, compared with 860,000 a year ago.
The protests have since spread to multiple cities across Iran and turned political and violent. Videos circulated online suggested that the crowds have attacked government buildings and facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), setting them on fire.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he added.
Casualties have already been reported among both the demonstrators and security forces. Iran’s archrival Israel is openly endorsing the unrest. Its Mossad spy agency is cheering for the protesting crowds and has claimed it has agents on the ground. On Friday, Tehran warned Trump against crossing a “red line” with what it called “adventurist tweets.”
“Iranians know US ‘rescue’ record well, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote in a post on X.
“Any intervening hand nearing Iran’s security on [any] pretexts will be cut off with a regret-inducing response,” the official said.
The US struck Iran last year on Trump’s orders. In summer 2025, it joined Israel in a series of coordinated airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, claiming they were intended to prevent the country from advancing its nuclear program. Tehran denied seeking nuclear weapons and condemned the attack as an unprovoked violation of its sovereignty.
