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Protests spread across Iran as regime threatens US forces as ‘legitimate targets’ after Trump warning
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As nationwide protests continued to spread across Iran on Friday, the regime’s hardline Parliament speaker warned the U.S. that American forces and bases in the region would be considered «legitimate targets» if Washington intervenes in the country’s ongoing political unrest.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments after President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that the U.S. would take action if Iran uses force against demonstrators. It comes as protests entered a sixth day and appear to be spreading, with Iranian opposition groups claiming at least eight deaths.
«The disrespectful President of America should also know that with this official admission, all American centers and forces across the entire region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential adventurism,» Qalibaf wrote in Persian on X.
«Iranians have always been united and determined to act in the face of an aggressor enemy,» he added.
IRANIAN PROTESTERS CLASH WITH SECURITY FORCES AS TEAR GAS FILLS TEHRAN STREETS AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST
A protester faces Iranian security forces during clashes amid nationwide unrest, according to images released by the Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) (NCRI )
Qalibaf’s threat emerges as the United States maintains a substantial military presence in the region.
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.
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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.
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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.
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«[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 )
Fox News’ Bradford Betz, Greg Norman, Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
world,iran,middle east,donald trump,world politics,defense
INTERNACIONAL
GOP lawmakers would strip citizenship from terrorists after attacks tied to naturalized citizens
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Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., announced plans Thursday to introduce legislation allowing the U.S. to denaturalize and deport naturalized citizens who commit or support terrorism after a recent string of attacks involving immigrants who obtained citizenship.
On Thursday, Moore called out the «horrific pattern» of naturalized citizens committing acts of terror against the American people, saying it «must end.»
Moore announced he will be introducing a bill in Congress to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who commits an act of terror, plots to unleash terror, joins a terrorist group or otherwise aids and abets terrorism.
Almost immediately, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., vowed to support the bill.
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ROTC CADETS DISARM ISIS SUPPORTER SHOUTING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ DURING SHOOTING: OFFICIALS
Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, at left, who was identified as the shooter at ODU Thursday, March 12, 2026. Ndiaga Diagne, 53, at right, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Senegal, was identified as the suspect in Sunday’s shooting outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in Austin. The background photo shows the aftermath of an attack on Temple Israel, a synagogue in Michigan, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Obtained by WTVR; Obtained by Fox News; WJBK)
This week, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, allegedly attempted to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers. The same day at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.
Days before, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized citizens from Turkey and Afghanistan, allegedly attempted to bomb an anti-Islam demonstration outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City. At the start of the month, Senegalese-born naturalized citizen Ndiaga Diagne killed three people and injured over a dozen in a shooting in Austin.
After this week’s attacks, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., renewed his call to pass another bill known as the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act.
Schmitt is the Senate sponsor of the bill, which, if passed, would expand and clarify grounds for denaturalization if an individual participates in fraud against a government program, joins a terrorist organization or is convicted of an aggravated felony or espionage.
The bill was introduced in the House in January by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., amid widespread outrage over the rampant Medicaid and children’s services fraud scandal, which heavily involved the Somali immigrant community.
TRUMP WARNS OF IRANIAN ‘SLEEPER CELLS’ AS CANADA IS ACCUSED OF HARBORING REGIME OPERATIVES
Ibrahim Kayumi, right, pictured handing an object to Emir Balat, left. Both men were arrested March 7 after allegedly attempting to bomb a protest in New York City and pledging allegiance to the ISIS terror group. (Justice Department Office of Public Affairs)
On Thursday, Schmitt posted on X that «after the SAVE America Act, we must pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize & deport those who are here to hurt Americans. We must denaturalize those who shouldn’t be here.»
Under current laws, the U.S. government may strip citizenship from a naturalized individual only in very limited circumstances, such as when it was obtained through fraud. There is also a very high standard of proof on the government to show that fraud occurred during the process of obtaining citizenship.
The SCAM Act, however, would expand the government’s ability to denaturalize, allowing it to revoke citizenship from a person who engages in terrorism, commits fraud, commits espionage or commits felonies within 10 years of becoming a citizen.
WE’RE IN DANGER OF MORE TERROR ATTACKS — AND THIS IS THE MOST INDEFENSIBLE PART OF IT ALL: SEN TED CRUZ
Lt. Col. Brandon Shah was identified as the instructor killed in Thursday’s deadly shooting at Old Dominion University. (Old Dominion University)
In another post, Schmitt emphasized «we need to give the Trump admin the SCAM Act. Under current law, it is practically impossible to denaturalize these terrorists.»
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He said the SCAM Act «will allow the Trump admin to denaturalize and deport those who should never have been granted citizenship in the first place.»
immigration,republicans,terror,terrorism,anti semitism,house of representatives politics,senate
INTERNACIONAL
En un rincón azotado por los cárteles, los mexicanos están abiertos a la intervención de EE.UU.
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Iran moves hundreds of millions in crypto during nationwide internet blackout, report reveals
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EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency infrastructure linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continued operating during the country’s nationwide internet blackout after the Feb. 28 U.S.–Israeli strikes, a cyber intelligence report reviewed by Fox News Digital claims. It allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto to move out of the country.
Omri Raiter, founder and CEO of RAKIA, a cyber intelligence firm that develops data analysis platforms used by governments and security agencies, told Fox News Digital his team began monitoring Iranian cryptocurrency activity in real time after the attacks and quickly detected a surge of funds leaving Iranian-linked crypto accounts.
«We’ve seen a surge of funds since the first hours of the war,» Raiter said. «It started with tens of millions in the first hours, and it grew to hundreds of millions and more. Money was just flowing out from Iranian crypto accounts.»
Wallets linked to the IRGC received more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, according to the internal report based on blockchain intelligence data cited by RAKIA. The report also cites publicly available data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, which estimated Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in activity in 2025.
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Strikes on the Iranian leadership, the IRGC and Iranian naval vessels and oil infrastructure have roiled the markets. ( Sasan/Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Raiter said the data suggests Iran has developed a significant crypto-based financial infrastructure capable of operating even during heavy sanctions and communications shutdowns.
«The IRGC has been financing proxy operations through the very same crypto corridors that sanctions were designed to shut down,» Raiter said.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned cryptocurrency exchanges tied to Iranian actors Jan. 30, marking one of the first times the U.S. targeted entire digital asset platforms rather than individual wallets for sanctions evasion linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move was part of a broader effort to disrupt financial networks connected to Tehran, Iran.
«The Treasury will continue to pursue Iranian networks and corrupt elites who enrich themselves at the expense of the people,» Bessent said in a Treasury press release in January. «This also applies to attempts by the regime to use digital assets to circumvent sanctions.»
The recent surge appears to reflect two parallel trends: funds moving to support Iran’s regional proxy networks and money being moved by individuals connected to the regime seeking to protect their personal wealth, according to RAKIA’s analysis.
«The proxy war funding and the personal capital flight are two sides of the same coin,» Raiter said. «They move through the same pipelines.»
IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT
Tehran’s skyline, including the Azadi Tower, became the backdrop to a crisis shaped as much by cyber disruption as by missiles in the sky. (Kurt «CyberGuy» Knutsson)
Raiter said the firm identified cryptocurrency flows connected to networks previously associated with Iran-backed groups.
«Some of the accounts we saw are connected to areas where money historically flows to proxy wars,» he told Fox News Digital, citing activity linked to Lebanon and Yemen.
«Some of it could be people inside the IRGC trying to move their own money,» Raiter said. «But when you see the scale and the timing, it looks coordinated.»
The report produced by RAKIA claims the activity continued even after Iran imposed a sweeping internet shutdown across the country. National connectivity dropped to roughly 1% of normal levels during the blackout, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
FROM MISSILES TO MINERALS: THE STRATEGIC MEANING BEHIND THE IRAN STRIKE
Military members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in western Tehran, Iran (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Despite that shutdown, RAKIA researchers said they detected more than 1,100 active cryptocurrency nodes operating inside Iran.
«When the internet is at one percent and you still see over a thousand active crypto nodes, you’re not looking at retail users,» Tom Malca, RAKIA’s head of cyber and AI research, said in the report. «Those nodes require dedicated bandwidth, stable power and deliberate exemption from the shutdown.»
RAKIA researchers said the activity suggests specialized infrastructure continued operating even as millions of Iranian civilians were cut off from the internet.
Most of the nodes were concentrated in the Tehran–Qom corridor, according to the report, an area that includes major government and IRGC institutions. Smaller clusters were detected in Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and Kermanshah, according to the analysis.
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps special forces walk on the U.S. flag during a rally commemorating International Quds Day, also known as Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran, March 28, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
RAKIA said its investigation relied on a combination of network monitoring and publicly available blockchain intelligence.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on the report’s claims.
war with iran,terrorism,cybercrime
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