‘Trump is gonna kill you’: US senator warns Iran’s supreme leader as protests turn deadly

WASHINGTON – 8 January 2026: A senior US senator issued an extraordinary warning to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei amid deadly nationwide protests, saying President Donald Trump will “kill you … if you keep killing your people.”

Speaking in a televised interview on Fox News, Senator Lindsey Graham voiced US support for protesters demanding political change.

The remarks came as rights groups reported dozens of deaths and thousands of arrests during unrest sweeping several Iranian cities.

Graham suggested that Washington will not remain passive, signaling that US assistance to protesters is “on the way.”

“To the people of Iran: We stand with you tonight," Graham said. “We stand for you taking back your country from the Ayatollah.”

“And to the Ayatollah: You need to understand, if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is gonna kill you,” he added.

In the wake of the comments, Iran’s military warned that escalating rhetoric by “the enemy” will be treated as a threat and promising a decisive response to any aggression, while asserting heightened readiness of the country’s armed forces.

“If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response, and we will cut off the hand of any aggressor,” Iran's army chief Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami said in a speech to military academy students.