Protests Against Economic Crisis Spread Across Iran, Reports Say Seven Killed

Tehran: Protests against Iran’s worsening economic crisis have spread to several provinces and continue unabated, with reports indicating that at least seven people have been killed. The situation has been aggravated by a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, as the country remains under severe Western sanctions.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has warned of possible American intervention if Iran continues to kill protesting civilians. “If Iran shoots and kills peaceful protesters, America will come to their rescue. We are ready to go to Iran,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Responding sharply to Trump’s statement, Ali Shamkhani, chief adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned of serious consequences if the US were to intervene. “Entering Iran will have grave repercussions,” Shamkhani wrote on X, adding that Iranians are well aware of the outcomes of US interventions from Iraq to Gaza.

Amid the unrest, former finance minister Abdolnaser Hemmati has been appointed as the new governor of Iran’s Central Bank. President Masoud Pezeshkian made the appointment after the previous governor, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned in the wake of the protests.

The ongoing demonstrations are being described as the largest civilian uprising in Iran since the nationwide unrest that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died after being beaten by police for not wearing the hijab.