US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and said that “help is on its way”, as human rights monitors reported that more than 2,000 people had been killed in nationwide demonstrations across the Islamic Republic.
Trump did not provide any details about what the help would entail, but it comes after the US president just days ago said that Tehran wanted to negotiate with Washington.
Yet Trump’s latest post on social media appeared to signal an abrupt shift in his willingness to engage with the Iranian government.
“Iranian patriots, keep protesting — take over your institutions,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will hisse a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops. Help is on its way.”
The US president has repeatedly warned that Washington could take military action if it determined that Tehran was using lethal force against anti-government protesters.
Leading White House figures and officials began meeting on Friday to develop options for Trump, ranging from a diplomatic approach to military strikes.
Trump on Sunday told reporters that he believed Iran was “starting to cross” the line. He said he and his national security team were considering “very strong options,” despite Iranian outreach to the US.
On Monday, Trump said he would slap 25% tariffs on nations doing business with Tehran “effective immediately,” but the White House has not offered details on that move.
Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, has warned that the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect Iranian protesters.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years, put the latest death toll at 2,003 on Tuesday.
The monitor said 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated.
The death toll dwarfs that in any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Communications restrictions eased
These latest demonstrations — which began little over two weeks ago in anger over Iran’s struggling economy — quickly evolved into wider anti‑theocracy protests, particularly against 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
With the internet largely down in Iran, monitoring the demonstrations from abroad has become increasingly difficult. Euronews has been unable to independently assess the death toll. Iranian authorities have not released overall casualty figures.
Tehran eased some restrictions on Tuesday for the first time in days, allowing people to make mobile phone calls abroad. However, citizens could not receive overseas calls, while curbs on internet access and SMS remained in place.
It was unclear if restrictions would ease further after Iran cut off all communications inside the country and to the outside world late on Thursday.
On Tuesday, France, Germany and the Netherlands said they had summoned the Iranian ambassadors in their countries to condemn Tehran’s repression of demonstrators.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would “swiftly” propose further sanctions on Iranian officials over the crackdown on protesters.
“The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive use of force and continued restriction of freedom,” she said in a post on X.
That came a day after the European Parliament announced it would ban Iranian diplomats and representatives.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran “does not seek enmity with the EU, but will reciprocate any restriction.”
Quoted from Euronews.
