Serial demonstrations, mass movements

As protests over Iran's economic crisis near their second week, top Iranian officials and US President Donald Trump have exchanged threats as demonstrations turned deadly and continue to escalate.

Hours after Trump said in aJanuary 2 post on Truth Socialthat Washington is "locked and loaded" to respond if Iranian security forces kill more protesters, Tehran's United Nations ambassador, Amir Saeed Iravani, called on the organization to condemn what he said were "unlawful threats" from the US president.

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Trump Tells Iranian Protesters US Supports Them As Death Toll, Arrests Rise

Iravani called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the UN Security Council to "unequivocally and firmly condemn" Trump's "reckless and provocative statements," describing them as a "serious violation" of the UN Charter and international law.

Iran's leadership also lashed out earlier on January 2, saying American troops in the region could be targeted if Washington interferes amid the deadly protests, which began on December 28 and pose one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic republic's leadership in years.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's armed forces were on standby and "know exactly where to aim" in the event of an attack.

Driven by anger over soaring prices, inflation, and a plunging currency, the demonstrations have swept across Iran after shopkeepers in Tehran went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation.

Graph: Iran's Inflation Crisis

At least nine people had been reportedly killed and 44 arrested in the weeklong unrest. State-controlled media and international rights groups have reported several deaths and dozens of injuries in clashes between demonstrators and security forces, although government-linked news agencies have blamed what they called "rioters" for the violence.

Iranian authorities have yet to confirm the reports, and RFE/RL's Radio Farda could not independently verify them.

Protests Spread Across Iran
The protests were sparked by the collapse of the Iranian currency's exchange rate with the US dollar and inflation soaring to 52 percent.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian earlier tried to defuse the protests, promising "new decisions" to improve the economic situation.

This has done little to temper the anger of Iranians reeling from the collapse of the rial currency that is trading on unofficial markets at around 1.4 million to the dollar, compared with around 800,000 a year ago.

Iran's Currency Hits Record Low

The economic woes add to years of compounding economic and political crises in Iran, including severe drought in Tehran, a city with a population of some 10 million people.

The rebuttal from Tehran to Trump, who said in his comments that if Iranian authorities kill "peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue," has been particularly forceful.

"Trump should know that US interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America's interests," Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X.

"The American people should know -- Trump started this adventurism. They should be mindful of their soldiers' safety," he added.

His comments were followed by a post from Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wrote that "Iranians know [the] US 'rescue' record well, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza. Any intervening hand...will be cut off."