“I’m not aware of the hanging. In an interview with CBS News, Trump stated, “If they hang them, you’re going to see some things. We will take very strong action if they do such a thing.”
As worldwide outcry increased over a crackdown that one rights group claimed has probably killed thousands of people, US President Donald Trump promised to take “very strong action” against Iran if its authorities proceed with the threatened hanging of certain protestors.
Following many nights of widespread protests since Thursday, which have presented one of the greatest challenges to the religious government since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian officials said they had restored control of the nation.
The government is accused by rights organizations of shooting demonstrators to death and hiding the scope of the crackdown with an internet outage that has now lasted more than five days.
Trump, who had earlier assured Iranian protesters that “help is on its way,” told CBS News that the United States would take action if Iran started hanging demonstrators after Tehran prosecutors warned that Iranian authorities would prosecute some suspects detained over recent protests on capital charges of “moharebeh,” or “waging war against God.”
The American leader, who has frequently threatened Iran with military intervention, declared, “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”You’re telling me about hanging when they begin murdering thousands of people. Trump remarked, “We’ll see how that works out for them.”
AFP confirmed the location of recent social media images that showed victims arranged in a line in the Kahrizak mortuary, which is located just south of the Iranian capital. The dead were wrapped in black bags, and the distressed relatives were looking for loved ones.
According to an AFP correspondent, international phone connections were restored on Tuesday, but only for outbound calls. The quality was still inconsistent and frequently interrupted.
Trump urged Iranians to “KEEP PROTESTING” earlier on Tuesday, writing on his Truth Social platform: “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
What meetings he was referring to and the type of assistance would be unclear at first.
In the thousands
The European Union, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were among the nations that recalled their Iranian ambassadors in protest over the crackdown.EU leader Ursula von der Leyen declared, “The increasing number of casualties in Iran is horrifying,” and she promised more penalties against the perpetrators.
Iran Human Rights (IHR), an NGO based in Norway, reported that 734 people had died during the protests, including nine juveniles, but cautioned that the actual death toll was probably far higher.Less than half of Iran’s provinces and less than 10% of its hospitals provided the data that we publish. The actual death toll is probably in the thousands, according to Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of IHR.
IHR brought attention to the case of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran. According to a family source, Soltani has already received a death sentence and is scheduled to be put to death as early as Wednesday.
Numerous security force members have reportedly been killed, according to Iranian official television, and their funerals have turned into sizable pro-government demonstrations. Three days of national mourning for the deceased have been announced by the authorities.
A large-scale funeral service for the “martyrs” of recent days will take place in the capital on Wednesday, according to Tehrani authorities.
On Monday, Amir, an Iraqi computer scientist, returned to Baghdad and recounted the extraordinary events in Tehran.My companions and I witnessed demonstrators in Tehran’s Sarsabz neighborhood on Thursday night while there was a strong military presence. He told AFP in Iraq that the police were using rubber bullets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the regime, praised the large-scale statewide demonstrations on Monday as evidence that the protest movement had been vanquished and referred to them as a “warning” to the United States in an attempt to reclaim control of the streets.
Khamenei, who has been in power since 1989 and is currently 86 years old, has encountered several difficulties. The most recent of these was the 12-day conflict with Israel in June, which led to the deaths of senior security officials and forced him into hiding.
During a visit to India, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared, “A regime is effectively finished when it can only hold on to power through violence.” “I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”
However, analysts have warned that it is too soon to forecast the theocratic system’s quick collapse, citing the oppressive tools under the leadership’s disposal, such as the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is tasked with defending the Islamic revolution.
Nicole Grajewski, a professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP that these demonstrations may pose the biggest threat to the Islamic republic in years due to their scope and increasingly overt political demands.
She cited “the sheer depth and resilience of Iran’s repressive apparatus” as evidence that it was unclear whether the demonstrations would bring down the government.
