Trump-Iran newest: President threatens ‘very strong action’ if protesters are hanged after compelled confessions | EUROtoday

President Donald Trump was consulting with his national security team on Tuesday about possible next steps to take on Iran, as he looked to get a better understanding of the number of Iranian citizens who have been killed and arrested in more than two weeks of unrest throughout the country.

Trump said he believes that the killing is “vital” and that his administration would “act accordingly.” He added that he believed the Iranian government was “badly misbehaving”.

But the president stated he has but to obtain a confirmed variety of Iranians killed within the protests that started late final month, saying he has heard “five different sets of numbers” concerning the dying toll.

Since the protests started on 28 December, 16,700 individuals have been arrested and greater than 2,500 have been killed, the overwhelming majority protesters, in accordance with the Human Rights Activists News Agency. The organisation relies within the US and depends on a community of activists inside Iran to substantiate reported fatalities.

“The message is they’ve got to show humanity,” Trump stated of the Iranian authorities. “They’ve got a big problem. And I hope they’re not going to be killing people.”

Activists have raised alarm over a surge in executions related to the newest protests, as Iranian state media aired at the least 97 confessions from protesters, many expressing regret for his or her actions for the reason that protest started on 28 December.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that based mostly on testimony from prior detainees, the confessions typically come after psychological or bodily torture – and may have severe penalties, together with the dying penalty.

“These rights violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrible outcomes. This is a pattern that’s been implemented by the regime time and time again,” stated Skylar Thompson, the group’s deputy director.

Thompson stated she is “gravely concerned” over a surge in executions related to the newest protests, including that lots of the video confessions are severe security-related offences that carry the dying penalty.

By comparability, from 2010 to 2020, there have been round 350 compelled confessions broadcast on state media, in accordance with the activist teams Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, the final main examine compiled by activists.

The rights group Together Against the Death Penalty stated there have been 40 to 60 confessions aired in 2025.

In 2024, Iran executed 975 individuals, the very best quantity since 2015, in accordance with a report by the United Nations. Four of the executions have been carried out publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging.

According to the UN report, most individuals in Iran are executed for drug-related offences or homicide.

In 2024, security-related offences, resembling espionage, accounted for simply three per cent of the executions.

Tehran is understood to have executed 12 individuals for espionage for the reason that 12-day struggle in June between Israel and Iran.

The most up-to-date execution for espionage was final week, when Iran stated it executed a person who was accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad spy company in alternate for cryptocurrency. The state-run IRNA information company stated the person confessed to the spying prices.

They are proven handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession movies, broadcast on Iranian state media, characteristic dramatic background music interspersed with clips showing to indicate protesters attacking safety forces.

Some showcase ugly do-it-yourself weapons that authorities declare have been used within the assaults. Others spotlight suspects in grainy safety footage, showing to set fires or destroy property.

Iran alleges these confessions, which regularly embrace references to Israel or America, are proof of overseas plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests.

28 December: Protests break out in two major markets in downtown Tehran, after the Iranian rial plunged to a new record low.

29 December: The central bank head resigns as the protests spread and police fire tear gas at protesters.

30 December: President Masoud Pezeshkian vows to work with business leaders to hear their demands as university campuses join protests.

31 December: Protests in Fasa allegedly turn violent after crowds break into the governor’s office.

1 January: The protests’ first fatalities are officially reported, with authorities saying at least seven people have been killed.

2 January: Trump threatens Iran if it kills peaceful protesters.

3 January: Khamenei greenlights security forces to crack down on dissent. Protests reach 170 locations with 15 dead.

8 January: The government blocks the internet after Reza Pahlavi calls on citizens to act.

9 January: Iran ramps up threats of punishment with 65 reported killed and 2,300 detained.

11 January: Iran’s parliament speaker threatens to strike US military bases in the region if Trump attacks, as rights groups say 538 people have now been killed. HRANA reports arrests have surpassed 10,000.

12 January: Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on any country doing business with Iran. The ISW reports protests have thinned significantly since their peak on 8 January, likely due to the internet blackouts.

13 January: HRANA reports more than 2,000 verified deaths as Donald Trump tells protesters that help is “on the way”. Russia backs Iran, denouncing “subversive external interference” and saying Trump’s threat of strikes is “categorically unacceptable”.

Donald Trump on Tuesday advised Iranians to maintain protesting and stated assist was on the way in which, with out giving particulars.

“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump stated in a put up on Truth Social.

He added that he had cancelled all conferences with Iranian Officials till the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped.

As concern mounts that the blackout is concealing atrocities in opposition to protesters, there have been rising requires the US to help in restoring connectivity in Iran.

Donald Trump on Sunday promised he would converse to Musk about utilizing his Starlink service to revive web throughout the nation.

The Independent’s Alex Croft appears at how Iran is ‘jamming’ Starlink satellites to cease the horrors of the protest crackdown from getting out:

Iran ‌accused US president Donald Trump on Tuesday of encouraging ‌political destabilisation, inciting violence, and threatening the nation’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, ‌and ​nationwide ​safety, Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid ‍Iravani wrote to ‍the ​US Security Council.

“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 the letter, which was also sent to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.

He wrote the letter in response to a social media post by Trump earlier on Tuesday.

28 December: Protests break out in two major markets in downtown Tehran, after the Iranian rial plunged to a new record low.

29 December: The central bank head resigns as the protests spread and police fire tear gas at protesters.

30 December: President Masoud Pezeshkian vows to work with business leaders to hear their demands as university campuses join protests.

31 December: Protests in Fasa allegedly turn violent after crowds break into the governor’s office.

1 January: The protests’ first fatalities are officially reported, with authorities saying at least seven people have been killed.

2 January: Trump threatens Iran if it kills peaceful protesters.

3 January: Khamenei greenlights security forces to crack down on dissent. Protests reach 170 locations with 15 dead.

8 January: The government blocks the internet after Reza Pahlavi calls on citizens to act.

9 January: Iran ramps up threats of punishment with 65 reported killed and 2,300 detained.

11 January: Iran’s parliament speaker threatens to strike US military bases in the region if Trump attacks, as rights groups say 538 people have now been killed. HRANA reports arrests have surpassed 10,000.

12 January: Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on any country doing business with Iran. The ISW reports protests have thinned significantly since their peak on 8 January, likely due to the internet blackouts.

13 January: HRANA reports more than 2,000 verified deaths as Donald Trump tells protesters that help is “on the way”. Russia backs Iran, denouncing “subversive external interference” and saying Trump’s threat of strikes is “categorically unacceptable”.