Protests that began in Iran on Dec. 28, 2025, for economic reasons quickly transcended the scope of a domestic social movement, taking on a regional and even global dimension. The rapid emergence of these protests on the international public agenda was largely due to the extremely harsh statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump. About 10 days after the events erupted, on Jan. 8, 2026, Trump made his first statement, explicitly threatening concrete military action, saying that if protesters were killed in Iran, the country would be βhit very hard.β
These statements were met with equally harsh responses from Iranian officials, led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei and other high-ranking officials directly accused the Washington administration, stating that the United States was behind the events unfolding in the streets. During the same period, there was a noticeable increase in U.S.
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