Donald Trump has pledged to "rescue" protesters in Iran if security forces fire at them following days of unrest that has left several people dead.
Protests over soaring inflation have spread across the Middle Eastern country this week, posing the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.
Deadly confrontations between demonstrators and security forces have focused in the western provinces of Lorestan and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.
State-affiliated media and rights groups have reported at least six deaths since Wednesday.
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President Trump has said the US will come to the aid of "peaceful" demonstrators if they are fired at.
He wrote in a post to Truth Social early this morning: "If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.
"We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The US struck Iranian nuclear facilities in June, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Tehran's atomic programme and military leadership.
President Trump said the US was 'locked and loaded and ready to go'
|REUTERS
Top Iranian official, Ali Larijani, responded to President Trump's comments, warning that US interference in domestic Iranian issues would equal the destabilisation of the whole region.
He wrote to X: "With statements from Israeli officials and Donald Trump, what was happening behind the scenes has become clear.
"We distinguish between the position of the protesting merchants and the actions of the sabotage elements, and Trump must realise that U.S. intervention in this internal matter will lead to destabilising the entire region and destroying American interests."
Iran has seen off repeated bouts of major unrest in recent decades, often quelling protests with heavy security measures and mass arrests, though economic problems could leave authorities more vulnerable now.
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Several people have reportedly died in the protests in Iran this week
|REUTERS
This week's protests are the biggest in three years, since nationwide demonstrations triggered by the death of a young woman in custody in late 2022 paralysed Iran for weeks, with rights groups reporting hundreds killed.
During the latest unrest, the elected President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged dialogue with protest leaders over the cost-of-living crisis, even as rights groups said security forces had fired on demonstrators.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Pezeshkian acknowledged that failings by the authorities were behind the crisis.
"We are to blame... Do not look for America or anyone else to blame. We must serve properly so that people are satisfied with us.... It is us who have to find a solution to these problems," he said.
Mr Pezeshkian's government is attempting a programme of economic liberalisation, but one of its measures, deregulating some currency exchange, has contributed to a sharp decline in the value of Iran's rial on the unofficial market.
The sliding currency has compounded inflation, which has hovered above 36 per cent since March even by official estimates, in an economy battered by Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme.
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