Iran has warned the United States against trying to intervene in the escalating protest movement in the Middle Eastern Islamic state as the death toll passed 5,000 and the judiciary indicated it may begin executions.
Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian said any U.S. strike would trigger a "harsh response", and an official said at least 5,000 people had been killed in nationwide protests over economic problems, which began on 28 December.
Pezeshkian said in a post on social media site X that Tehran's response "to any unjust aggression will be harsh and regrettable" and any attack on the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be "tantamount to an all-out war against the nation".
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if protesters continued to be killed on the streets or were executed, but subsequently pulled back on the basis that Iran had called off the killings.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump said in an interview.
Protestors have called for the end of the clerical rule introduced with Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, which gave religious leaders control of the country.
Flagging the possible start of executions of protesters, an Iranian judiciary spokesperson referred to Mohareb, a crime which means waging war against God and which is punishable by death.
“A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told a press conference on Sunday.
