Iran Warns U.S. Forces Would Be “Legitimate Targets” as Protests Intensify

Tensions between Iran and the United States escalated dramatically Friday as Iran’s hardline Parliament Speaker issued a stark warning that American military forces in the Middle East would become “legitimate targets” if Washington intervenes in the country’s growing civil unrest.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s threat came in direct response to President Donald Trump’s statement that the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go” should Iranian authorities violently suppress demonstrators, who have now taken to the streets for a sixth consecutive day.

“The disrespectful President of America should also know that with this official admission, all American centers and forces across the entire region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential adventurism,” Qalibaf wrote on social media platform X. “Iranians have always been united and determined to act in the face of an aggressor enemy.”

The warning carries significant weight given the substantial U.S. military presence across the Middle East. According to Pentagon officials cited by Military Times, approximately 40,000 active-duty U.S. troops and War Department civilians are currently deployed throughout the region, with forces stationed in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria.

The Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported Friday that protests have expanded to at least 44 cities across 19 provinces, with at least eight people killed in clashes with security forces over the past two days, including a 15-year-old. These claims could not be independently verified.

According to NCRI reports, demonstrations intensified overnight with protesters blocking roads, throwing stones, and setting fire to police vehicles in multiple cities, including Marvdasht, Semirom, Darreh-Shahr, Ramhormoz and Azna. The group also claimed demonstrators burned a statue of slain Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Lali, located in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.

In Zahedan, near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, protesters rallied after Friday prayers, chanting slogans including “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei,” directly challenging Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s authority.

The current unrest represents Iran’s most significant civil disorder since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide protests. Those demonstrations were met with a brutal crackdown that resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.

Some of the most severe violence in the current wave of protests has been reported in western Iran, where videos circulating online appear to show fires burning in streets and the sound of gunfire during nighttime clashes.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, issued a message of support to protesters, saying they have “struck fear into a weakened enemy.”

“Scenes of your courage, valor, and steadfast resistance captivate the conscience of the world,” Rajavi said. “Whatever measures you take, you will not be able to silence a people who have resolved to overthrow the clerical regime.”

She also issued a warning to security forces: “You may kill, you may wound, you may arrest and imprison, but you will not escape the relentless wrath of this nation. And let this stand as an explicit warning to all those who order and carry out these crimes and killings: the courts of a free Iran are awaiting you.”

Meanwhile, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of Iran’s former shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, praised Trump’s “decisive leadership” and tough stance against Iran’s ruling clerics. Pahlavi claimed Iranians are risking their lives to end 46 years of rule by the Islamic Republic.

“[The people] have entrusted me with a message along with a great responsibility: to strive for the revival of the relationship that Iran once had with America; a relationship that brought peace and prosperity to the Middle East,” Pahlavi wrote on X.

The growing civil unrest comes at a particularly volatile time for regional security, with ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, and increasing tensions between Iran and Israel following recent cross-border attacks. Any U.S. intervention in Iran would likely have far-reaching implications for Middle East stability and international relations.

Iranian officials maintain that the current wave of protests has not reached the same scale or intensity as the 2022 demonstrations, though independent verification of the situation remains difficult due to media restrictions within the country.