The death toll from protests in Iran has reached 2,571 people, the U.S.-based HRANA rights group said on Wednesday, as the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers face the biggest wave of dissent in years.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting, promising help is on the way. Iranian officials, however, have accused the U.S. and Israel of fuelling violence in the country and blamed the deaths on “terrorist operatives” receiving foreign guidance to instigate.
The group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 people aged under 18, and nine non-protester civilians.
An Iranian official said on Tuesday that about 2,000 people had been killed, the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of nationwide unrest.
Asked what he meant by “help is on its way”, Trump told reporters they would have to figure that out. Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.
Trump Says ‘Help Is On The Way’
In response to Trump’s social media post that “help is on the way,” Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the U.S. president was inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security, and seeking to destabilize the government.
“The United States and the Israeli regime bear direct and undeniable legal responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives, particularly among the youth,” he wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran started hanging protesters, but again did not elaborate. “If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,” Trump said.
The unrest and protests in Iran, sparked by dire economic conditions, have posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and have come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and U.S. strikes last year.
(with inputs from Reuters)
