As truck drivers’ strikes in Iran continued for the fifth day, the Iranian judiciary on Sunday ordered the security forces to take firm steps to quell any protests that could challenge the authorities. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei warned that groups with legitimate demands and a right to protest should not allow the “opportunists, counter-revolutionaries and terrorists to exploit them.” “I urge families not to let their children be fooled by psychological warfare ... and not let counter-revolutionaries infiltrate crowds of protesters, who have with legitimate demands,” he stated. In a first response from the judiciary to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement last week of a stronger strategy to face Iranian threats, Ejei said: “No one says the United States can be trusted.” The US has, “from the beginning, wanted to confront Iran through a military and economic war,” he added. During an interview with Voice of America Persian last week, Pompeo had called on the Iranian authorities to stop “looting” their own people. Iran had seen popular protests at the end of December, which extended to mid-January, reaching more than 80 Iranian cities. The protests saw turned violent in 46 cities, leading to 12 civilian deaths and hundreds of detentions. Demonstrators chanted slogans criticizing the economic situation and corruption, while some called for overthrowing the regime and the departure of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as a halt to Iran’s regional meddling. Meanwhile, truck drivers’ strike continued for the fifth day across Iran, as the government ignored union demands to raise cargo fees. State-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported on Sunday that the demand to increase the cargo fees by 20 percent was among the motives of the strike. Truck drivers protested high expenses, resulting from taxes, services and insurance, in comparison with low cargo fees. In parallel, universities of Baluchistan province witnessed on Sunday angry protests after the circulation of a video showing a professor at the University of Zahedan making harmful statements against Sunnis. The authorities announced that they arrested the professor in light of the protests.