Overview
- Nationwide protests entered a sixth day after bazaar strikes over a collapsing rial and high inflation, with students joining and rights groups and state-linked outlets reporting roughly 8–10 deaths and dozens to more than 100 arrests, including 132 cited by Hengaw.
- President Trump said the United States would act if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” declaring America “locked and loaded and ready to go.”
- Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that U.S. bases and forces across the region would be “legitimate targets” if Washington intervenes, echoing broader threats from senior Iranian officials.
- Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, lodged a formal protest and said Iran would “exercise its rights decisively and proportionately,” while UN human rights officials urged authorities to uphold freedoms of expression and assembly.
- President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled openness to dialogue by tasking the interior minister to hear demands, even as security forces clashed with demonstrators in several cities, with reports of deadly confrontations concentrated in western provinces.