Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any move against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would amount to a declaration of war on the Iranian nation, escalating tensions after President Donald Trump urged a change in leadership in Tehran.
Trump told Politico on Saturday, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” after previously signaling he could consider military action unless he was convinced Iranian authorities were no longer killing protesters. Trump said late last week he had it on “good authority” that the “killing in Iran is stopping,” a claim disputed by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince, who said the “slaughter has not stopped.”
Rising Pressure Amid Nationwide Protests
Iran has been rocked for weeks by protests driven by economic hardship, which have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to the country’s ruling system in decades. Reports of casualties have been difficult to independently confirm, in part due to a communications blackout across the country.
In a social media post on Sunday, Pezeshkian blamed the unrest and daily hardships on what he described as decades of hostility and sanctions led by the United States and its allies. He then issued a stark warning: “Any aggression against the Supreme Leader of our country is tantamount to full-scale war against the Iranian nation.”
Khamenei, in his own message, said Iran’s leadership “do not intend to lead the country toward war,” but added that “criminals” inside Iran and around the world would not go unpunished. Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the U.S. and “terrorists” of fueling violence during the unrest.
Conflicting Death Toll Estimates
Accounts of how many people have been killed vary widely:
- An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that authorities had confirmed at least 5,000 deaths, including around 500 security personnel.
- The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said close to 4,000 people had been killed, with almost 9,000 suspected deaths still under investigation. HRANA also reported more than 2,100 people “severely injured” and more than 24,000 detained.
- Britain’s Sunday Times reported over the weekend that the death toll could be at least 16,500.
- Khamenei has publicly acknowledged the deaths of “several thousand” people.
U.S. Signals and Regional Context
Trump has said the U.S. “stands ready to help” protesters and urged demonstrators to keep showing up in the streets. Earlier in January, he warned that if Iranian authorities “start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved.”
Iran’s leadership is also navigating the aftermath of its brief but damaging war with Israel in June 2025, which ended shortly after the U.S. attacked multiple Iranian nuclear sites.
The country’s last major wave of protests erupted in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman detained by Iran’s “morality police” over allegations related to wearing her hijab. United Nations experts and human rights groups said more than 550 people were killed during that period.
What They’re Saying
Khamenei wrote on X on Saturday: “The US had made extensive preparations to orchestrate this sedition. This sedition was a prelude to even bigger schemes. The Iranian nation defeated the US.”
