Protests in Iran reached a second week on Saturday, with video on social media showing huge crowds accompanied by massive flames and plumes of smoke — without any apparent response from the military or police.
Iran remained isolated from the rest of the world, as the nation’s theocracy shut down the internet and cut off phone lines as demonstrators raged against economic hardship and high inflation.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled a coming clampdown in the face of U.S. warnings. He also said President Donald Trump’s hands are “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
Trump vowed he would intervene if more demonstrators were killed.
The death toll during the protests, which started in late December, ballooned to at least 65.
Upwards of 2,300 others were detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Trump said Iran’s “in big trouble,” adding that the U.S. is watching the situation “very carefully” and closely.
“It looks to me to that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said during an unrelated news conference on Friday.”I made this statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said. I just hope the protestors are going to be safe because it’s a very dangerous place right now,” he added. “And again, I tell the Iranian leaders you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting, too.”
Trump went on to say it is “something pretty incredible” that’s happening in Iran.
“It’s an amazing thing to watch. They’ve done a bad job. They’ve treated their people very badly and now they’re being paid back, so let’s see what happens,” he said.
Trump on Saturday morning took to Truth Social to note that “Iran is looking at freedom, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
In a separate social media post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
The Department of State issued a separate post, which included a stark warning.
“Do not play games with President Trump,” the post noted. “When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican who represents South Carolina, praised Trump and Rubio for supporting Iranians.
Graham’s post on X included a photo of him and Trump. It showed Graham giving a thumbs up and the president holding a hat with the slogan “Make Iran Great Again.” The slogan is a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) campaign.
“I am so proud of @POTUS and @SecRubio for being in the corner of the people of Iran and their protests against oppression,” Graham wrote on X. “The Make Iran Great Again hat that I showcased with President Trump has clearly become — in his own words now — a symbol of support for the protestors. Buy or make a MIGA hat — stand with the people of Iran who are rightly protesting against their oppression. Make Iran Great Again.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.