While abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores remain under US captivity and international rules-based order takes a nap, all eyes have now turned towards Iran, the other country that Donald Trump has on his radar. Iran has been experiencing massive protests over the poor state of the economy.
Reeling under US sanctions and with no major support from other allies like China and Russia that can revitalise its economy, Tehran has been facing an immense economic crisis following its clashes with Israel and the US in June 2025.
The rial was trading at 1.42m per dollar on December’s last Sunday, and marginally rose to 1.38m to a dollar on December 29th, prompting the government to devalue it. One new rial is equivalent to 10,000 old rials.
The devaluation sparked protests, many of which have turned violent in different parts of the country.
In these circumstances, Iran’s government has been facing a dual challenge. On the one hand, it has to preserve the people’s right to protest, on the other, it has to prevent the US-Israel nexus from utilising the mass anger.
Mr Trump’s statement on January 2nd, where he used the pretext of the ongoing protests in Iran, has triggered concerns regarding an imminent attack on Tehran.
The US attacks on Iran in June 2025 have shown that the Iranian air defence can’t defend the country. Tehran realises that a US attack can not only destabilise the country but also oust the government.
Striking a balance between the right to protest and Iran’s right to defend itself, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei has emphasised protecting the country from foreign aggressors.
“Protest is justified, but protest is different from riot. We talk to the protester; they should voice their concerns. Talking to rioters is useless,” Mr Khamenei said on Saturday, hours before the US strikes had hit Venezuela.
The Supreme Leader has cautioned the country’s security systems, saying, “It is absolutely unacceptable for a group, under various names and pretexts, with the aim of destruction and destabilising the country, to position themselves behind faithful, sound, and revolutionary businesspersons, misuse their protests, and create riots.”
As Mr Khamenei issues his warnings, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Aref has clearly demarcated between the genuine protesters and rioters.
Mr Aref said on Monday that the relevant authorities will soon release a report identifying “those who attempted to exploit legitimate public demonstrations for unrest”.
He also stressed the steps, including livelihood and food security programmes, which the government has been undertaking to subsidise essential goods and deliver benefits directly to the citizens.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei has claimed that the Islamic Republic’s armed forces are vigilant and have been strengthening their preparedness to defend the country in the face of a possible new Israeli attack.
It’s noteworthy that while making these remarks during his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, amid a hype surrounding a possible Israeli aggression on the country, he alleged the enemies of Iran are using psychological warfare to exert pressure.
“Psychological warfare and media propaganda against the country are part of the opposing side’s strategy to exert pressure on Iran and are nothing new. What matters to us is that we are closely monitoring the actions of the other parties with full vigilance and commitment, and that our Armed Forces will not show the slightest negligence or leniency when it comes to defending Iran’s sovereignty and national integrity,” the IRNA quoted him saying.
Mr Baqaei dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, provoking protesters to do a regime change in Iran. He highlighted Israel’s aggression in June last year, claiming that “the assassination of prominent Iranian officials, the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, and the criminal acts that the Zionist regime, in collusion with its partners, has carried out against the Iranian nation over the past decades are not things that can be concealed by such deception or forgotten by the Iranian people.”
Earlier, on Friday night, armed terrorists tried to cross over into Iran from Pakistan. However, according to Iranian officials, the Islamic Republic’s forces thwarted the intrusion.
As Iran braces against a possible attack by Israel or the US itself, the Islamic Republic highlights the crimes committed by Washington and calls upon the international community to unite against the Trump administration’s acts of terrorism. However, as the Gulf monarchies and most regional powers, including Pakistan, tilt towards the US, it’s unlikely that Iran will win new allies in its attempts to thwart Israeli-US aggression.
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