US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without giving details, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years.
“Iranian Patriots, keep protesting – take over your institutions!!! ... Help is on its way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the ‘senseless killing’ of protesters stopped.
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and US strikes last year.
Following the US president’s post, Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said on social media platform X that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were the ‘main killers’ of the Iranian people.
An Iranian official said about 2,000 people had been killed in the protests, the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of nationwide unrest, though the official gave no breakdown.
US-based rights group HRANA said that of the 2,003 people whose deaths it had confirmed, 1,850 were protesters. It said 16,784 people had been detained, a sharp increase from the figure it gave on Monday.
Trump earlier announced 25 per cent import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran – a major oil exporter. Trump has also said more military action is among options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.
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