Republican Rep. Thomas Massie slammed President Donald Trump over his threat to intervene in Iran if the Tehran regime "violently kills peaceful protesters" in the demonstrations roiling the country.
In a social media publication, Massie said he had three different issues with Trump's message: "1) We have problems at home and shouldn't be wasting military resources on another country's internal affairs. 2) Military strikes on Iran require Congressional authorization. 3) This threat isn't about freedom of speech in Iran; it's about the dollar, oil, and Israel," he said.
1) We have problems at home and shouldn’t be wasting military resources on another country’s internal affairs.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 2, 2026
2) Military strikes on Iran require Congressional authorization.
3) This threat isn’t about freedom of speech in Iran; it’s about the dollar, oil, and Israel. pic.twitter.com/820E6HMoMk
Trump's message also elicited a warning from Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. After accusing accused Washington and Israel of stoking protests without providing evidence, he said "Trump should know that intervention by the U.S. in the domestic problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of the U.S. interests."
"The people of the U.S. should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers," he added.
Moreover, Ali Shamkhani, adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that "any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut." "The people of Iran properly know the experience of 'being rescued' by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza," he said in his own publication on X.
At least seven people have died so far in the protests, the biggest since 2022. Sparked by the country's ailing economy, they have spread to rural provinces.
AP News noted that the demonstrations have slowed in Tehran but expanded elsewhere. The outlet added that the most intense violence took place in Azna, some 185 miles southwest of Tehran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has signaled willingness to negotiate with protesters but noted there's not much the country can to to stem the depreciation of the rial, of which 1.4 million now are needed to exchange for one dollar.
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