US ‘locked and loaded’ to help Iranian protestors
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Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Friday, the 2nd of January. President Trump warns Iran not to kill peaceful protesters, saying the US will step in. Swiss officials say the fire that killed 40 people in a bar appears to have been started by sparklers attached to champagne bottles. And what are the chances of ending the war in Ukraine this year? Also in the podcast, why the US president is taking more aspirin than recommended.
And... Citizenship is not a reward. It's an entitlement for someone to be able to live a dignified life and for someone to be seen as a human being.
The plight of thousands of stateless people in South Africa. Since Sunday, the authorities in Iran have been struggling to contain protests over the dire state of the economy. The demonstrations, which began among shopkeepers at the Grand Bazaar in the capital Tehran, have now spread to other cities. Yesterday, at least seven people are reported to have been killed in clashes between protesters and the security forces. Today, in an early morning social media post, President Trump weighed in, warning the Iranian authorities not to harm demonstrators. If Iran kills peaceful protesters, the US will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go, he said. A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader responded by saying Mr Trump should know that US interference will lead to chaos across the region.
I got the latest from Parham Gobadi of the BBC Persian service. Zahedan, which is the capital of the most impoverished state in Iran, in southeastern part of Iran, has joined the protest after the Friday prayer. During the previous protest back in 2022, they staged the longest protest. After the other cities stopped protesting, they continued. So now we can say almost in all four corners of the country, there are protests. Usually it becomes more heated and more intense afterwards. At night, like previous nights, it was the most intense protests we've ever seen throughout the past six days. The difference between this time of protest is that during the Women Live Freedom back in 2022, it was mostly about women's rights and anti-government protests.
But this time, many protesters are chanting slogans in favor of Reza Pahlavi, Prince Reza Pahlavi, who is the son of of the last Shah of Iran and who lives in exile in the United States right now. And of course, America did attack Iran's nuclear facilities last year. What do you make of those comments from Donald Trump? It's quite significant because that was the biggest concern that the Iranian leaders had. Ayatollah Khamenei thanked Iranian people for not to take to the street during the 12-day war because Israelis asked Iranians to go on the street while they were bombing Iran to topple the regime. That did not happen, and the government took credit for that as if Iranians are supporting the regime.
However, this time, as you... The United States president is supporting the protesters. That is the biggest challenge that Iranians, the Iranian regime has faced in the past almost five decades. Because if protests inside the country coincide with a foreign attack, it's going to be a huge challenge for Iranian authorities to fight both their own people at home and a foreign invasion or airstrikes from outside. And how are the Iranian authorities responding to that threat? They are threatening back. Immediately, Ali Larijani, who is the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, tweeted, however, this body is the most important body when it comes to security decision making.
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