President Donald Trump has vowed to send help to protesters in Iran as the number of those killed in demonstrations reached into the thousands today.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: ‘Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!
‘Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a high price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!’
The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran has spiked to at least 2,000, activists said, with 1,847 of the dead being protesters and 135 being government-affiliated.
With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult.
Earlier today, Trump received a briefing from the Pentagon on options against Iran if the death toll continues to mount.
The US president is reportedly weighing up potential tools he could use against Iran if the situation in the country escalates following protests and reports of killings and mass arrests.
Trump was reportedly briefed on cyber and psychological operations, which could occur at the same time as traditional military attacks, two Pentagon officials told CBS News on condition of anonymity.
Air strikes and long-range missiles could be used, while a cyber campaign could disrupt the country’s command structures, communications and the state-run media, the insiders said.
The defence planners have not detailed what digital infrastructure is a potential target, or what a psychological campaign against the state-run media could look like if Trump were to give it a go-ahead.
No final decision has been made yet, and Trump’s national security team will be holed up in the White House today to discuss Iran.
What has the UK said about the protests?
Yvette Cooper said the Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian ambassador to the UK over reports of the country’s response to protests against the regime.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Cooper said she had spoken to the Iranian foreign minister to ‘set out the UK’s total abhorrence of the killings, the violence, and the repression that we are seeing’.
It has been reported that thousands of people have been killed, and more arrested, as activists opposed to the regime headed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have taken to the streets.
She said: ‘They have been met with the most bloody repression. A total internet shutdown instigated by the Iranian regime from January 8, along with restrictions on phone communications, means that the full facts are not yet clear.
‘But I am fearful that the reports that we have seen may underestimate the full scale of the horror as further evidence and testimony reach the outside world.’
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