Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials have increasingly threatened to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels prior to the U.S. attack in June, making it the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called President Donald Trump “arrogant”, saying he would be “overthrown” in his first public address since protests erupted across Iran. He said protesters are “ruining their own streets on make the President of another country happy”.

Anti-government protests erupted in Tehran on Thursday, as Iranians angered by a flailing economy and crackdowns by security forces marched through the streets of the capital and shouted slogans against the ruling theocratic regime.

Shopkeepers and traders initially took to the streets to protest the government’s handling of a sharp fall in the Iranian rial and rapidly rising prices.

Trump’s renewed warnings have added a volatile international dimension to the unrest. His comments came just days after U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolas Maduro, following a months-long pressure campaign—an episode closely watched in Tehran.

As the U.S. and Israel back Iranians' right to protest against their leaders, authorities in Tehran detain students and declare a sudden holiday.

Iran has been gripped by demonstrations amid the country's economic crisis, with social discontent fueling open protest against the regime. Media and authorities have pinned the blame on foreign intelligence services.

Galloping inflation and a currency crisis have provoked demonstrations across the country. Protests fueled by deepening economic hardship have swept Iran for more than a week, as soaring inflation has driven frustrated traders and university students into the streets of major cities, including the capital, Tehran.