Iran president orders dialogue with protesters as chants target Khamenei

Speaking on Monday in Florida alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said Iranian authorities routinely open fire on demonstrators.

“They kill people,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago. “Every time they have a riot, or somebody forms a group, little or big, they start shooting people.”

Massive nationwide protests erupted across Iran over the weekend, with merchants vowing to continue their shutdowns into a third day on Tuesday.

What began as anger over the soaring price of the US dollar and the collapse of the rial has widened into a broader wave of unrest, spreading beyond market corridors into streets, squares and university campuses across several provinces.

While the slogans were mainly focused on economic issues on the first day, the second day's chants underscored a transition from economic frustration to more explicit political dissent.

Chants in several cities targeted Iran's political authority, with crowds shouting slogans such as 'death to the dictator" and "Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be toppled this year".

When asked about regime change in Iran on Monday, the US president drew a line.

“I’m not going to talk about overthrow of a regime,” Trump said, adding that Iran’s leadership already faces severe internal pressure.

“They’ve got a lot of problems. They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust. And I know that people aren’t so happy.”

He told reporters Monday that Iranians are increasingly discontented with their rulers. “There’s tremendous discontent. They form 100,000, 200,000 people. All of a sudden, people start getting shot, and that group disbands pretty quickly,” he said.

Long history of brutal crackdowns

Violence against protesters is not new in the Islamic Republic.

Amnesty International has documented past crackdowns in which security forces fired live ammunition at largely peaceful crowds.

During the 2022 Woman Life Freedom movement, sparked by the in-custody death of Mahsa Jina Amini, security forces fired on and killed protesters in cities across Iran, with many victims reportedly targeted in the eyes, according to human rights groups and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.

The November 2019 demonstrations, known as “Bloody November,” are also widely considered one of the deadliest crackdowns in recent decades, with security forces shooting directly at protesters and killing hundreds.

“Iran’s missile and defensive capabilities are neither containable nor in need of permission. Any act of aggression will be met with a harsh, immediate response beyond the imagination of its planners,” Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, posted on X.

His comments came after Trump said on Monday he would support possible Israeli strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic develops its ballistic missile or nuclear programs, warning Tehran against rebuilding military capabilities destroyed in a brief June war.

“I’m hearing that Iran is trying to recover — if that happens, we’ll have to hit them hard,” Trump said. Asked whether he would support Israeli strikes on Iran if it further develops its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, he replied: “If they continue with missiles, yes, quickly. If they continue with nuclear, immediately.”

Shamkhani, a member of Iran's Supreme Defense Council, warned that “in Iran’s defense doctrine, some responses are determined before a threat even reaches the execution stage."

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60-day deadline. When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

The attacks killed several Iranian officials and nuclear scientists as well as hundreds of military personnel and civilians, while Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and Khamenei has said dealing with Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic, while Iranian officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.

What began as anger over the surging price of the US dollar and the collapse of the rial has widened into a broader wave of unrest, moving beyond market corridors and into streets, squares and university campuses across multiple provinces.

In Tehran, major sections of the bazaar were shuttered, including major commercial centers in the Grand Bazaar as well as the Alaeddin mall.

Crowds poured into streets in several parts of central Tehran, where security forces deployed tear gas and clashes were reported.

One widely shared video shows a protester sitting on the ground in front of security forces. Many viewers compared the scene to the “Tank Man” moment during China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, a symbol of solitary defiance in the face of state power. The protester was quickly beaten and removed.

The unrest deepened outside the capital. Protests and nighttime rallies were reported from Qeshm Island in the south to Zanjan and Hamadan in the north, and from Malard and Pardis near Tehran to Kerman in the southeast.

In Hamadan, security forces reportedly shot directly at demonstrators, and in Malard, tear gas was fired at protesters.

While the slogans were mainly focused on economic issues on the first day, the second day's chants underscored a transition from economic frustration to more explicit political dissent.

Chants in several cities targeted Iran's political authority, with crowds shouting slogans such as 'death to the dictator" and "Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be toppled this year".

Pro-monarchy slogans like "This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return," and "Reza Shah may God bless your soul" were also heard in various parts of Tehran and other cities during Monday protests, videos obtained by Iran International show.

Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi in a message on Instagram called on Iranian people to join protesters in the streets and put an end to the rule of Tehran's theocracy which toppled his father's monarchy in 1979.

Root causes of protests

At the core of the crisis is the dollar’s surge to roughly 144,000 tomans over the weekend before easing slightly to 136,000 tomans on Monday.

Shopkeepers say the volatility has made it impossible to price goods, secure supply or plan for basic business survival.

Amid the turmoil, the governor of Iran’s central bank resigned and President Masoud Pezeshkian appointed Abdolnaser Hemmati as the new chief in an effort widely seen as aimed at calming markets and protests.

However, there was no immediate sign the move influenced protesters, and momentum continued to build.

Tehran shopkeepers have vowed to extend their strikes into Tuesday, marking a third consecutive day of action.

Students at Shahid Beheshti University and Amirkabir University, prestigious academic centers in Tehran, also announced plans for a protest gathering Tuesday morning.

With protests spreading nationwide, turning more confrontational and carrying into the night, the coming days will test whether this wave remains anchored in economic collapse or develops into a broader challenge to authority.

Speaking to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, Trump said the United States will deal a heavy blow on Iran if it tries to recover from the US and Israeli strikes in June.

"I'm hearing that Iran is trying to recover—if that happens, we'll have to hit them hard," Trump added.

"If they will continue with the missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast. Okay? One will be yes, absolutely. The other was, we'll do it immediately," Trump said when asked if he would support Israel's strikes on Iran in case it further develops its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

In a joint press conference with Netanyahu later in the day, Trump said he hopes Iran is "not trying to build up again, because if they are, we're going to have no choice, but very quickly to eradicate that buildup."

"I hope Iran is not trying to build up, as I've been reading, that they're building up weapons and other things. And if they are, they're not using the sites that we obliterated, but they're using possibly different sites. We know exactly where they're going, what they're doing, and I hope they're not doing it, because we don't want to waste the fuel on B-2, it's a 37-hour trip both ways. I don't want to waste a lot of fuel," he said.

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60-day deadline.

When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

The attacks killed nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians. Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said dealing with Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic, while Iranian officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with Oman’s Foreign Minister on Monday over the phone. Oman has previously mediated negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

Trump blames Obama for nuclear Iran

Ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump shared a post on his Truth Social account of an old share on X that the Obama and Biden administrations gave money to Iran to fund its nuclear program.

The message originated on X from an account using the pen name Chris Bjornberg and was part of a promotion for his 2023 book “The Night Rider and the Warrior Queen.”

“One of Obama’s most treasonous policies was to fund Iran’s nuclear program,” the post shared by Trump said, alongside an image of a nuclear explosion over New York City and further criticism of Democratic administrations’ Iran policy.

“Biden and Obama gave Iran over $220 billion to research and build nukes. Iran nearly had 6 nuclear bombs and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) that would have destroyed Israel and 5 cities in the US," the post said.

The Obama administration negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which restricted Tehran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, before Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018.

Iran has since expanded its nuclear program beyond JCPOA limits, and the deal has effectively stalled.

Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy head of communications at the president’s office, said on X that President Masoud Pezeshkian had decided to name Hemmati as central bank governor.

The move follows days of conflicting reports over the fate of Mohammad Reza Farzin, who had faced intensifying criticism as the rial slid to record lows and inflation accelerated.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s judiciary denied reports that senior political leaders had agreed to retain Farzin, saying no such decision had been taken and that the matter fell solely within the president’s authority.

Later, the president’s office confirmed that Farzin had submitted his resignation earlier in December.

Hemmati, a former governor of the central bank and ex-economy minister, returns to the post as Iran grapples with severe currency instability.

On Monday, the dollar was trading at around 1.41 million rials on the open market, while gold prices also hit record highs, triggering protests and strikes by shopkeepers in parts of Tehran.