Iran’s hardline leadership escalated its rhetoric Friday as nationwide protests continued to spread, with the regime’s parliament speaker openly threatening American troops and bases across the Middle East if the United States intervenes in the country’s growing unrest.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, issued the warning after President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that the United States would act if Iranian authorities violently suppress demonstrators. The unrest entered a sixth day as protests widened, with opposition groups claiming multiple deaths.
Writing in Persian on X, Qalibaf accused Trump of provocation and said that any U.S. involvement would carry serious consequences. “The disrespectful President of America should also know that with this official admission, all American centers and forces across the entire region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential adventurism,” he wrote. Qalibaf added that Iranians have historically united when confronting what he described as an aggressor enemy.
The threat comes as the United States maintains a substantial military footprint throughout the Middle East. According to Military Times, citing Pentagon officials, roughly 40,000 active-duty U.S. troops and War Department civilians are deployed across the region, including bases in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria, as reported by Reuters.
Trump, responding to reports of a harsh crackdown, said the United States is prepared to act if Iranian authorities resort to lethal force. “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, adding that the U.S. is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”
Iranian opposition groups say the demonstrations are expanding rapidly. The National Council of Resistance of Iran claimed Friday that protests have spread to at least 44 cities across 19 provinces. The group alleged that at least eight people have been killed in clashes with security forces over the past two days, including a victim as young as 15. Those claims could not be independently verified.
According to the NCRI, street fighting intensified overnight, with protesters blocking roads, throwing stones and setting police vehicles on fire in cities such as Marvdasht, Semirom, Darreh-Shahr, Ramhormoz and Azna. The group also claimed demonstrators burned a statue of slain Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Lali, located in Khuzestan province.
Funerals for those killed reportedly turned into fresh anti-regime demonstrations. In Zahedan, in Iran’s southeast near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, crowds gathered after Friday prayers chanting slogans including “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei,” according to opposition reports.
The current unrest marks Iran’s most significant wave of protests since 2022, when the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody ignited nationwide demonstrations. Iranian officials have downplayed the current protests, insisting they have not reached the same scale or intensity. However, some of the most severe violence in recent days has been reported in western Iran, where videos circulating online appear to show fires burning in the streets and gunfire during nighttime protests.
Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, praised the protesters and said their actions have shaken the regime. She warned Iran’s clerical leaders and security forces that repression would not silence a population determined to overthrow the ruling system.
Meanwhile, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former shah, praised Trump’s “decisive leadership” and tough stance toward Tehran. Pahlavi said Iranians are risking their lives to end 46 years of rule by the Islamic Republic and expressed hope for restoring stronger ties between Iran and the United States, calling for a future that brings stability and peace to the region.
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