Iran’s parliament speaker has issued a direct warning that American military bases and forces throughout the region will be considered legitimate targets if the United States takes aggressive action. The Friday statement followed President Trump’s threat to intervene should Iranian authorities respond with lethal force to peaceful demonstrators.
At least seven people have died in violent clashes since protests erupted Sunday over Iran’s deteriorating economic situation. The demonstrations initially began in Tehran with shopkeepers voicing frustration over government policies but have since spread nationwide as economic grievances intensify.
Trump’s intervention warning has inflamed tensions with Tehran’s leadership. A senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responded by predicting that any US involvement in Iran’s domestic crisis would ignite chaos throughout the Middle East, potentially affecting multiple countries and threatening strategic interests.
The protests are rooted in profound economic distress. The rial has collapsed to approximately 1.4 million per US dollar, while inflation reached 42.5 percent in December according to official statistics. Combined with weak economic growth, these conditions have severely eroded citizens’ standard of living and created widespread anger directed at authorities.
President Pezeshkian’s civilian government has tried to project understanding for public concerns. Speaking on state television, Pezeshkian used Islamic teachings to frame addressing livelihood issues as a moral imperative. Despite this sympathetic tone, he has acknowledged his administration’s severely limited options. The prosecutor general has sought to distinguish legitimate economic protests from security threats, promising decisive action only against the latter, though maintaining this distinction becomes more challenging as unrest continues.