Iran’s Hardliners Unleash Death Threats—Trump Responds With Force

Paul Riverbank, 1/17/2026Deadly crackdowns, fiery rhetoric, and global tension: Iran’s unrest meets Trump’s forceful warnings.

The speech, for all its fire and brimstone, was not delivered in a vacuum. Since late last year, after another sharp collapse of the Iranian rial, the country has seen crowds of aggravated citizens pouring through public squares. Ask anyone lingering on a Tehran street corner about rising prices, and the frustration is palpable. Government officials repeat a familiar refrain, blaming the US and Israel for what they say is an engineered revolt. “These are not ordinary Iranians,” Khatami pressed on, his gaze narrowing, “but the tools and butlers of Netanyahu and Trump.”

This stance isn’t new for Iran’s leadership. Almost reflexively, the administration casts every serious protest as the work of foreign conspirators. Still, there is an escalation in tone. State television issued a direct warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, referencing the Pennsylvania assassination attempt with jarring bravado: “He missed – we won’t,” read their chilling message. Naturally, the Secret Service has ratcheted up its vigilance. U.S. media has taken notice, with Fox News reporting a stepped-up security posture in Washington.

The toll of the unrest heartsickens even seasoned observers. Rights groups based in the U.S., such as Human Rights Activists News Agency, have estimated at least 1,800 protesters killed, alongside over a hundred security personnel. Other accounts are far grimmer, with figures surpassing 3,000 dead. These aren’t just numbers for the families awaiting news of a loved one forced into the shadows or worse.

President Trump has persistently voiced support for Iranian demonstrators. He has broadcast strong warnings—“locked and loaded,” in his words—threatening U.S. force if the regime continued its harsh crackdown. According to Trump, he intervened discreetly: “hundreds of scheduled executions had been halted,” he posted to TRUTH Social, hedging ever-cautiously on specifics. “Tell them nothing. When it’s over, tell them who won.”

Khatami, meanwhile, elaborates his case with vivid, almost theatrical tallies: 350 mosques, 126 prayer rooms, and dozens of homes belonging to religious figures “damaged or destroyed,” supposedly by agitators. He insists enemy plots have long been at work—“planned from a long time ago” by Iran’s adversaries, he repeats. Soft targets, like hospitals and ambulances, are said to have suffered too. Yet, independent confirmation is difficult under the regime's information blackout.

Iran’s top officials have closed ranks; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims the protesters “ruin their own streets just to please the president of another country.” The word “terrorist” is tossed around liberally, leaving less space in official discourse for the anxieties of ordinary Iranians. Yet glimpses of resistance persist. Despite rolling blackouts on social media and a flood of arrests, you sense in the capital—a city flickering under sporadic internet—that the unrest has not died, only gone underground.

Elsewhere, the U.S. government has clamped down on visa access for Iranians, tightening along with several other countries. The movement of a U.S. aircraft carrier group closer to Iranian waters marks another sign of mounting tension. For veteran observers, the gesture carries a message as clear as any press release: Washington is watching closely, and it has the means to respond.

In Iran, the chill has seeped deep—fear presses in, not only on physical gathering places but on the national psyche. Khatami, like many of his peers, seeks to police not just city squares but the country's sense of its own story. “They want you to withdraw from religion,” he warns, speaking to a wider anxiety about the regime’s perceived fragility. Officials cling to authority, blaming outsiders, but the root causes of unrest—empty wallets, dashed aspirations—run deeper.

Information seeps out slowly, filtered and wary, but this much is unmistakable: the government’s grip is as hard as ever, yet far from unassailable. Official threats ring out through minarets and media, but the embers of dissent, even under a heavy boot, can smolder for years.

When Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami stepped to the pulpit this past week, few in Tehran were surprised by his blistering rhetoric—though the consequences his words imply still managed to chill. In a nationally broadcast sermon, Khatami, a figure known for his closeness to the Supreme Leader, declared that those protesting in Iran’s streets deserved “nothing short of execution.” His logic—“Any threat against the Supreme Leader is waging war on God”—landed with a dreadful finality, causing a wave of approving cries from his audience. The phrase “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!” echoed through the mosque.The speech, for all its fire and brimstone, was not delivered in a vacuum. Since late last year, after another sharp collapse of the Iranian rial, the country has seen crowds of aggravated citizens pouring through public squares. Ask anyone lingering on a Tehran street corner about rising prices, and the frustration is palpable. Government officials repeat a familiar refrain, blaming the US and Israel for what they say is an engineered revolt. “These are not ordinary Iranians,” Khatami pressed on, his gaze narrowing, “but the tools and butlers of Netanyahu and Trump.”This stance isn’t new for Iran’s leadership. Almost reflexively, the administration casts every serious protest as the work of foreign conspirators. Still, there is an escalation in tone. State television issued a direct warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, referencing the Pennsylvania assassination attempt with jarring bravado: “He missed – we won’t,” read their chilling message. Naturally, the Secret Service has ratcheted up its vigilance. U.S. media has taken notice, with Fox News reporting a stepped-up security posture in Washington.The toll of the unrest heartsickens even seasoned observers. Rights groups based in the U.S., such as Human Rights Activists News Agency, have estimated at least 1,800 protesters killed, alongside over a hundred security personnel. Other accounts are far grimmer, with figures surpassing 3,000 dead. These aren’t just numbers for the families awaiting news of a loved one forced into the shadows or worse.President Trump has persistently voiced support for Iranian demonstrators. He has broadcast strong warnings—“locked and loaded,” in his words—threatening U.S. force if the regime continued its harsh crackdown. According to Trump, he intervened discreetly: “hundreds of scheduled executions had been halted,” he posted to TRUTH Social, hedging ever-cautiously on specifics. “Tell them nothing. When it’s over, tell them who won.”Khatami, meanwhile, elaborates his case with vivid, almost theatrical tallies: 350 mosques, 126 prayer rooms, and dozens of homes belonging to religious figures “damaged or destroyed,” supposedly by agitators. He insists enemy plots have long been at work—“planned from a long time ago” by Iran’s adversaries, he repeats. Soft targets, like hospitals and ambulances, are said to have suffered too. Yet, independent confirmation is difficult under the regime's information blackout.Iran’s top officials have closed ranks; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims the protesters “ruin their own streets just to please the president of another country.” The word “terrorist” is tossed around liberally, leaving less space in official discourse for the anxieties of ordinary Iranians. Yet glimpses of resistance persist. Despite rolling blackouts on social media and a flood of arrests, you sense in the capital—a city flickering under sporadic internet—that the unrest has not died, only gone underground.Elsewhere, the U.S. government has clamped down on visa access for Iranians, tightening along with several other countries. The movement of a U.S. aircraft carrier group closer to Iranian waters marks another sign of mounting tension. For veteran observers, the gesture carries a message as clear as any press release: Washington is watching closely, and it has the means to respond.In Iran, the chill has seeped deep—fear presses in, not only on physical gathering places but on the national psyche. Khatami, like many of his peers, seeks to police not just city squares but the country's sense of its own story. “They want you to withdraw from religion,” he warns, speaking to a wider anxiety about the regime’s perceived fragility. Officials cling to authority, blaming outsiders, but the root causes of unrest—empty wallets, dashed aspirations—run deeper.Information seeps out slowly, filtered and wary, but this much is unmistakable: the government’s grip is as hard as ever, yet far from unassailable. Official threats ring out through minarets and media, but the embers of dissent, even under a heavy boot, can smolder for years.