❓WHAT HAPPENED: Nationwide protests erupted in Iran, with demonstrators demanding regime change and clashing with security forces.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Iranian protesters, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Protests began in recent weeks across more than 100 Iranian cities and towns, with escalating tensions and violence reported in recent days as the demonstrators clash with regime forces.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I’ve warned them that if they do anything bad to these people, we’re going to hit them very hard. I’ve said it very loud and very clear, that’s what we’re going to do.” — President Trump
🎯IMPACT: The unrest has reportedly resulted in over 40 deaths, thousands of arrests, widespread Internet blackouts, and the possibility that Ayatollah Khamenei may be looking to flee the country as his regime teeters on the brink of collapse.
President Donald J. Trump believes Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may be looking to flee the country as anti-regime protests continue to escalate. “He’s looking to go someplace,” President Trump stated in a recent interview, adding: “It’s getting very bad.”
Over the last week, demonstrations against the Islamic Republic and the rule of the ayatollahs have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across Iran, with human rights groups claiming there have been at least 40 deaths, including both protestors and police. Additionally, the rights groups believe the regime has arrested more than 2,000 people as it struggles to crack down on civil unrest, which began as a protest against the regime’s crumbling economy and runaway inflation.
In response to the mounting Islamist regime violence, President Trump warned Khamenei directly that he would order a U.S. military response if protestors are harmed. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like what’s happening right now… I’ve put Iran on notice that if they start shooting at them—these people are totally unarmed people, and they love their country,” Trump said.
“They want something to happen. Look at their country. They’ve gone back 150 years,” Trump continued. “But I’ve warned them that if they do anything bad to these people, we’re going to hit them very hard. I’ve said it very loud and very clear, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The National Pulse previously reported that the Iranian government moved to cut off Internet access across the entire country, which may signal that the regime is becoming increasingly desperate. Experts believe the current blackout is to prevent anti-regime demonstrators from communicating and to prevent evidence of pro-regime forces firing upon civilians being shared.
Late Thursday, Khamenei delivered a televised address where he accused the protestors of being “vandals,” allegedly acting at the direction of Israel, the United States, and President Trump. “The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said, vowing that “The Islamic Republic will not tolerate mercenaries working for foreign powers.”
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