Iran’s efforts to quell anti-government protests have become knotty by a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene in support of demonstrators, Iranian officials and people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
One day before U.S. special forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3 and transferred them to New York, President Trump warned in a social media post that if Iran’s leadership killed protesters who had taken to the streets since Dec. 28, the United States “would come to their aid.” At least 17 people have been killed so far in the protests.
Pressure Mounts on Tehran
One Iranian official told Reuters that mounting pressure has narrowed the leadership’s room for maneuver and left decision-makers in a limbo.
Two other officials and a former Iranian official who remains close to decision-makers echoed that assessment. All requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
A second official said some power centers in Iran fear the country could become “the next victim of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy,” following the U.S. move in Venezuela.
Iran’s economy has been reeling from years of U.S. sanctions, and the Iranian rial’s value has seen a sharp decline since Israeli and U.S. strikes last year that primarily targeted nuclear sites, amid Western claims that Tehran is working to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation.
So far, the current protests do not match the scale of the unrest that swept the country in 2022 and 2023 following the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police for allegedly violating the head-veil law.
However, even if smaller in scale, the protests have quickly expanded beyond economic grievances to encompass broader frustrations, with some demonstrators chanting “Death to the Islamic Republic” or “Death to the dictator,” a reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority over state affairs.
This poses a challenge for authorities seeking to preserve a sense of national unity that emerged during and after Israeli and U.S. strikes.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for dialogue and promised reforms aimed at stabilizing the monetary and banking systems and shoring up the currency’s purchasing power.
Wary of the United States and Israel
A third official said concerns are growing in Tehran that “Trump or Israel may carry out military action against Iran, as they did in June.”
The country’s religious establishment is still grappling with the repercussions of Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets in 2025.
Negotiations have stalled since the June conflict, despite both sides insisting they remain open to reaching an agreement.
An Ailing Economy
Public anger has been fueled by widening disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, who enjoy special privileges. Those disparities have been exacerbated by mismanagement, runaway inflation, and corruption—factors acknowledged even by state media.
Witnesses in Tehran, Mashhad, and Tabriz reported a heavy security presence in main squares. Amir Reza, 47, a carpet shop owner in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, said: “You can feel the tension in Tehran, but life is continuing as normal.”
