US-based rights group says 2,571 killed in Iran protests as Trump promises help and Tehran warns of retaliation against any US or Israeli attack.
DUBAI: The death toll from protests in Iran has reached 2,571, according to the US-based HRANA rights group.
The figure comes as Iran’s clerical rulers try to quash the biggest wave of dissent in years, sparking threats of US intervention.
US President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting, promising “help is on the way”.
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Iranian officials have accused the US and Israel of fuelling violence and blamed the deaths on “terrorist operatives” receiving foreign guidance.
HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 people aged under 18 and nine non-protest civilians.
An Iranian official said on Tuesday 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 the 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 had already announced 25% import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran, a major oil exporter.
China, which buys much of Iran’s oil exports, swiftly criticised the move.
In a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source.
Iran vowed to retaliate against any attack by targeting Israel and US bases and ships.
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years.
Trump said he cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped.
In a later comment, Trump told Iranians to “save the name of the killers and the abusers… because they’ll pay a very big price.”
Iranian officials have intensified diplomatic contacts in the region in the past few days, holding calls with Qatari, Turkish, and Iraqi officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
The UAE is one of Iran’s big trading partners, but also a close ally to both the US and Israel.
Araqchi told Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan that “calm has prevailed (in Iran) thanks to the vigilance of the people and law enforcement forces”.
He added that Iranians are determined to defend their national sovereignty and security against any foreign interference.
Araqchi spoke on Tuesday with France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and called on him to condemn “foreign intervention in the internal affairs” of Iran.
France had summoned the Iranian ambassador over the “unbearable and inhumane” crackdown by Iranian authorities.
The protests began on December 28 over the fall in value of Iran’s rial currency and have grown into wider demonstrations.
So far there are no signs of fracture in the security elite that could bring down the clerical system in power since a 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate.
Iran’s chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Wednesday that speed in punishing those “who beheaded or burned people” was critical. – Reuters
