WASHINGTON, Jan 10: US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran, faced with major protests, was in "big trouble" and again warned he could order military strikes.
"Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago," Trump said.
Asked on his message to Iran's leaders, Trump said, "You better not start shooting because we'll start shooting too."
"If they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved," Trump said.
"That doesn't mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Saturday that safeguarding security was a "red line" and the military vowed to protect public property, as the clerical establishment stepped up efforts to quell the most widespread protests in years.
The statements came after US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran's leaders on Friday, and after Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday declared: "The United States supports the brave people of Iran."
Unrest continued overnight. State media said a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, and blamed "rioters". State TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
Protests have spread across much of Iran over the last two weeks, beginning in response to soaring inflation, but quickly turned political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule. Authorities accuse the US and Israel of fomenting "the riots". Rights groups have documented dozens of deaths of protesters.
Authorities continued to impose an internet blackout.
A witness in western Iran reached by phone said the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed and opening fire in the area from which they were speaking, declining to be identified for their safety.
In a statement broadcast by state TV, the IRGC - an elite force which has suppressed previous bouts of unrest - accused terrorists of targeting military and law enforcement bases over the past two nights, killing several citizens and security personnel and saying property had been set on fire.
Safeguarding the achievements of the 1979 Islamic revolution and maintaining security was "a red line", it added, saying the continuation of the situation was unacceptable.
The military, which operates separately to the IRGC but is also commanded by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced it would "protect and safeguard national interests, the country's strategic infrastructure, and public property". "AGENCIES
