‘Keep protesting’: Trump tells Iranians ‘help is on its way’ amid unrest

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) called on protesters in Iran to continue demonstrating, saying that assistance would arrive soon, without sharing further details.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Trump’s remarks came amid heightened US messaging about the Iran situation and a series of White House statements indicating that multiple options remain under review.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists yesterday that airstrikes are among the “many, many options” under consideration, while stressing that diplomacy remains the administration’s “first option”. Her comments followed a fresh directive from Trump aimed at countries doing business with Iran.

Trump announced that any country doing business with the Islamic Republic would face a 25 per cent tariff on all trade conducted with the United States. In a statement, Trump said, “Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America. This order is final and conclusive”.

The developments come as Iran has been witnessing sustained nationwide protests since late December, drawing divided reactions internationally, with some governments expressing concern over what they describe as foreign-instigated riots, while others have accused Iranian authorities of responding violently to demonstrators, Al Jazeera reported.

Araghchi has said Iran is not seeking war, but told Al Jazeera that Tehran was “prepared for all options” after Trump threatened military action over the response to the protests.

Against this backdrop, Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi has appealed to Trump to move “sooner rather than later” against Iran’s clerical leadership, as demonstrations continue across the country amid reports of a harsh crackdown.

In an interview with CBS News on Monday, Pahlavi said, “We need action to be taken. The best way to ensure that there will be less people killed in Iran is to intervene sooner, so this regime finally collapses and puts an end to all the problems that we are facing”.

Trump told reporters on Sunday night that he spoke with Iranian leaders on Saturday and said they “called to negotiate”, even as he has threatened military action against the regime. The US President said he was considering his options after warning on Friday that the United States would intervene if the regime began “killing people like they have in the past.”

“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts,” Trump said Friday. “And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts”.

Reports have also emerged of heavy casualties linked to the unrest. Around 2,000 people have been killed in protests against Iran’s regime, The Times of Israel reported, citing Reuters and quoting an Iranian official who blamed “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.

The report said this is the highest official death toll confirmed so far in the unrest that has rocked the Islamic Republic and threatened the country’s stability.

Meanwhile, Iran has also imposed major restrictions on communication. Iran’s top cyberspace authority announced on Monday that access to the global internet will remain restricted in the country until officials are satisfied that full security has been restored amid widespread anti-government rallies, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported.

According to Press TV, citing the President of Iran’s National Centre for Cyberspace, Mohammad Amin Aqamiri, the internet blackout, imposed on January 9 amid widespread unrest in several provinces, will continue for the time being.

“The time to return to normal conditions will be announced in the future, and authorities must certainly brief us on security considerations,” Aqamiri said, as quoted by the IRNA news agency.

Aqamiri described the shutdown as necessary to counter “cognitive warfare” carried out by Iran’s adversaries in cyberspace, noting that the domestic intranet system, known as the National Information Network (NIN), has been strengthened to maintain essential online services despite limited access to the global internet. “The NIN is a platform through which we can guarantee stable services for the public,” Aqamiri said.

According to NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and Internet governance, 108 hours have passed since Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout. “Update: It has been 108 hours since #Iran introduced a nationwide internet shutdown, leaving Iranians isolated from the rest of the world and each other”, the organisation said in a post on X.

Amid mounting violence, the United Nations rights chief voiced horror at the situation across Iran. “The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” Volker Turk said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel.

Turk also decried the authorities’ decision “to inflict brutal force to repress legitimate demands for change.” (ANI)