Country issues 5-word Trump warning as it fears strike after Maduro capture | World | News
Iran has issued a five-word warning after the United States’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. An official told Reuters that there are “high risks on every path” after Donald Trump said the US would “hit [Iran] hard” if the regime continues to violently target protesters. It was reported yesterday that at least 20 people hd been killed and nearly 1,000 arrested following the breakout of demonstrations in the Middle Eastern country eight days ago.
Mr Trump last week said on Truth Social: “If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.” Now, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has written that Iranian officials believe that recent American threats have “limited their ability to respond effectively to protests”.
Experts highlighted that officials said Trump’s threat to intervene in Iranian protests has “complicated Iran’s efforts to quell recent anti-government protests”.
One Iranian official noted that some Iranian officials fear that the US may target Iran after the January 3 US strikes in Venezuela, the ISW added.
Another unnamed Iranian official noted that these external pressures have “narrowed the regime’s room to maneuver between public anger and protests, and hardening US demands”, leaving leaders with the perception that there are “few viable options and high risks on every path”.
It comes after Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Friday: “Given President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard within US borders, he of all people should know that criminal attacks on public property cannot be tolerated.
“This is why President Trump’s message today, likely influenced by those who fear diplomacy or mistakenly believe it is unnecessary, is reckless and dangerous.”
He added: “As in the past, the great people of Iran will forcefully reject any interference in their internal affairs.”
Mr Trump has also been vocal about his want for US control over the Danish territory of Greenland.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told the President to stop threatening the island yesterday.
The UK’s Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said he stood by her.
