Overview
- President Trump warned he would intervene if security forces kill peaceful protesters, saying the U.S. is "locked and loaded and ready to go."
- Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf responded that U.S. troops and facilities across the region would be treated as legitimate targets if Washington intervenes.
- Protests that began with Tehran bazaar strikes have spread nationwide and now include student demonstrations and anti-regime chants.
- PBS reported at least eight people killed and at least 44 arrested, including a 15-year-old among the dead, as rights groups and outlets track expanding clashes.
- Analysts tell Newsweek that years of U.S. sanctions have deepened Iran’s economic crisis, while President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for dialogue but lacks control over security forces.