Trump has said that the US will hit Iran “very hard” if protesters are killed

“I’ve informed them that if they start killing people, which they usually do in their riots — they have a lot of riots — if they do that, we’re going to hit them very hard,” Trump said.

According to local media and official statements, at least 21 people, including security forces, have been killed since the protests began in late December.

Despite the brutal repression, Iranians in dozens of cities and towns continue to demonstrate against the devaluation of the rial, inflation and bad governance.

In recent years, there have been several nationwide protests in the Islamic Republic. Their participants demanded greater social freedoms and political rights, as well as complained about high inflation and water scarcity. The authorities usually responded with brute force.