As protests continued to escalate across Iran on Friday, the country’s hardline parliamentary leader issued a stern warning to the United States. He declared that American military forces and bases in the area could be deemed “legitimate targets” should Washington decide to interfere in Iran’s political turmoil.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s remarks came in response to President Donald Trump, who had earlier on Friday stated that the U.S. would intervene if Iran used force against protesters. These demonstrations have now entered their sixth day, with Iranian opposition groups reporting at least eight casualties.

Qalibaf took to Persian social media platform X to address Trump directly, stating, “The disrespectful American President should understand that with this official acknowledgment, all U.S. centers and forces throughout the region become legitimate targets for us in retaliation to any potential adventurism.”

He further asserted, “Iranians have always shown unity and resolve when confronting an aggressive enemy.”

Images released by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) depict a protester clashing with Iranian security forces amid the ongoing nationwide unrest. (NCRI)

Qalibaf’s warning comes as the United States continues to maintain a significant military presence in the Middle East.

Roughly 40,000 active-duty U.S. troops and War Department civilians are deployed across the Middle East, according to Military Times, citing Pentagon officials. Forces are stationed in countries including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria, according to Reuters.

Trump said earlier Friday that the United States is “locked and loaded and ready to go” if Iranian authorities violently suppress demonstrators.

“If Iran shoots and ‘violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claimed Friday that protests have spread to at least 44 cities across 19 provinces, with at least eight people killed in clashes with security forces over the past two days. The group said the youngest victim was 15 years old. The claims could not be independently verified.

According to the NCRI, demonstrations and street fighting 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, in Iran’s Khuzestan province.

Funerals of those killed in the uprising turned into angry demonstrations against the clerical dictatorship, NCRI reported.

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration in Iran amid ongoing unrest, according to images released by the Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran. (NCRI )

In Zahedan, in Iran’s southeast near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, demonstrators rallied after Friday prayers, chanting slogans including “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei.”

The unrest marks Iran’s most significant protests since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody sparked nationwide demonstrations. Iranian officials say the current unrest has not reached the same scale or intensity.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf speaks during a public event in Iran in 2024. (Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

In recent demonstrations, some of the most severe violence has been reported in western Iran, where videos circulating online appear to show fires burning in streets and the sound of gunfire during nighttime protests.

In a message to the protesters, the President-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, said that the protesters have “struck fear into a weakened enemy.”

“Scenes of your courage, valor, and steadfast resistance captivate the conscience of the world,” Rajavi said. “Therefore, from here, I say to the clerics, the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij forces, and their intelligence agents: whatever measures you take, you will not be able to silence a people who have resolved to overthrow the clerical regime.”

“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, praised Trump’s “decisive leadership” and tough stance against Iran’s ruling clerics.

Pahlavi said 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.

“I have a clear plan for a stable transition in Iran and enjoy the support of my people to achieve it. With your leadership in the free world, we can leave behind a lasting legacy of enduring peace.”

Iranian security forces are seen near a crowd during demonstrations amid ongoing unrest, according to images released by the Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). (NCRI )