In a brief early morning post on Truth Social, he wrote: "We are locked and loaded and ready to go." He gave no further details what course of action this might take, but it's a pretty clear and provocative message to Iranian leadership - or comes very close to saying something akin to the 'Ayatollah must go'.

Trump's full message is as follows: "If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did respond in very short fashion, with a senior aide from his office saying Trump should "be careful" if he intervened, warning of unleashing more chaos in the region.

"Trump should know that US interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America's interests," Khamenei adviser Ali Larijani stated.

The economic protests which have been raging since Sunday, and have spread from the marketplaces to the universities, have turned deadly. International monitors and media have said six have been killed.

However, Iranian officials are saying at least one of these deaths and many among the injured are security forces. The slain officer was said to be a member of the Basij - a paramilitary force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). In several locales Basij members have been observed supporting local police forces, as is typical whenever major anti-government protests flare up.

Newsweek reviews of the violence so far in the country of over 90 million people:

Deaths were reported in Lordegan, Kuhdasht, and Isfahan, though casualty figures vary between state media and rights groups.

The Revolutionary Guards said one member of its Basij paramilitary unit was killed in Kuhdasht, with 13 others wounded.

Rights group Hengaw identified the man as a protester, contradicting official claims.

Demonstrations spread to Marvdasht in Fars province, while arrests were reported in Kermanshah, Khuzestan, and Hamedan.

Most of the protest deaths have come in the West of the country, and mounting casualties from the unrest has been confirmed in Iranian state media - though few details have been given in some instances on whether these are police or protesters.