Trump’s threats to Iran’s leaders are encouraging protesters but may not prevent a split, analysts say.

The leader of an independent Iranian newspaper said that President Trump’s warnings They are the most alarming officials in the Middle Eastern country and are encouraging protesters as major protests in recent years have swept the nation.

Iran’s chief justice has warned that protesters will face “severe” punishment, and the country’s attorney general has said that anyone who participates in the protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a crime punishable by death, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Trump said America will respond if protesters are killed. He he repeated his warning on Friday, it told Iran’s leaders that they were attacking the protesters. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said online early Saturday that “the United States stands with the brave people of Iran.”

“I’m sure that it scared a lot of Iranian officials and may have affected their actions in terms of how to deal with the protesters, but at the same time, it encouraged many protesters to come out because they know that the leader of the most powerful country in the world supports their cause,” said Maziar Bahari, editor of the independent news site Iranwire.

I protests began in Tehran two weeks ago as a response to Iran’s currency collapse and failing economy. Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a watchdog of Iran’s press, said the protests were caused by the same problems of “mismanagement, corruption or repression” that led to the riots after Mr. Mahsa Aminiwho was killed by moral police in Iran in 2022.

Since then, they have done so has grown throughout the countryand thousands filled the streets. Human rights groups say at least 65 people have died, and at least two hospitals in Tehran have reported being overwhelmed.

Iran’s state media has called the protesters terrorists, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei he made a public speech on Friday, accusing the Iranians of destroying their streets to please the American president. Officers cut off the country’s internet on Thursday, effectively shutting Iran off from the outside world.

Dagris said internet access was cut off “because the Islamic Republic did not want the international community and other Iranians to see what was happening.”

“I think there’s a real concern that with the internet being shut down, the international community won’t pay attention and that the current events will collapse,” said Dagres, who grew up in Iran.

He said he is not sure that the warnings of Mr.

“Unfortunately, this regime has been in power for 47 years and has not changed its behavior, and it will not happen because the president of the United States makes a threat,” said Dagres. And that’s what they do best, unfortunately: brutal abuse.”

Bahari said that “many people have called what is happening in Iran right now as a revolution,” but noted that no opposition leader can come together.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah, who was overthrown in January 1979, has been encouraging protesters on social media saying he is preparing to return to the country, but it is unclear how much support he actually has inside Iran.