Trump mulls ‘very strong’ military options as hundreds killed in Iran protests

President Donald Trump said the US military was considering “very strong options” in Iran as anti-government protests that reportedly left hundreds dead entered their third week.

While the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) states that it has confirmed the deaths of approximately 500 protesters and 48 security personnel in Iran, sources tell the BBC that the death toll could be much higher.

Trump has threatened to intervene and said on Sunday that Iranian officials had called on him to “negotiate” but added “we may have to act before the meeting.”

Iranian leaders described the demonstrators as “a bunch of vandals” and called on their supporters to join pro-government marches on Monday.

The government also declared three days of mourning for the “martyrs” killed in the “national war against the US and Israel”, which Tehran says has fueled unrest.

Anger over the falling value of the Iranian currency led to protests in late December, which escalated into a legitimacy crisis for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump has yet to detail what the US is thinking in terms of military options or proposed negotiations, although he has said a meeting has been “arranged” with Iranian officials.

He added that Iranian leaders “want to negotiate” because they are “tired of being beaten by the United States.”

A US official told BBC’s US news partner CBS that Trump had been briefed on military strike options against Iran.

Officials told the Wall Street Journal that other approaches could include promoting anti-government sources online, using cyberweapons against the Iranian military or imposing more sanctions.

Sources told the BBC that protests continued on Sunday night, but at a lower level than in previous days as fears grew of an escalating crackdown by the Iranian government.

According to HRANA, at least 10,600 people have been detained in the two-week unrest.

The streets of Tehran were “filled with blood” on Sunday, a source said, as the BBC counted 180 body bags in footage from a morgue near the Iranian capital.

“They are taking the bodies away in trucks,” the source added.

A video from an area near Tehran shows about 180 figures, mostly shrouded or wrapped, lying in the open. Screams and cries of distress can be heard from people who appear to be searching for their loved ones.

The images were blurred to protect the identities of the living who might be subjected to further persecution by the authorities.

Sources said a large number of bodies accumulated in hospitals and forensic facilities, and some bodies were urgently buried by authorities before dawn, limiting the chances of identification.

A source speaking to the BBC said that municipal workers also cleared debris, burnt cars and blood stains from the streets throughout the night.

Multiple sources in Iran also said they saw drones persistently flying over crowds and residential areas to detect and track protesters.

The BBC and most other international news organizations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has shut down the internet since Thursday, making information difficult to obtain and verify.

Some witnesses rely on Starlink proxy connections or satellite television for information but fear these could be used by authorities to track them.

“We can’t even send messages” while the general internet blackout continues, a source in southern Iran told the BBC. “It’s just the government sending threatening messages to people.”

Trump said on Sunday that he would meet with Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX, which operates Starlink, about restoring internet access to Iran.

“He’s very good at this kind of thing, he’s got a very good company,” Trump said.

The protests are the largest in Iran since the 2022 uprising, triggered by the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

While Khamenei said the demonstrators were trying to “please” Trump, Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of Allah” and that this was a crime punishable by death.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned that the US should not make a “miscalculation”, adding that if the US attacked Iran, both Israel and US military and transport hubs in the region would become legitimate targets.

Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, said in a post on X that the protests had “shook the foundations” of the Iranian government.

He added: “Increased gunfire against the population is not a sign of strength, but a sign of fear, fear of collapse, and acceleration of collapse.”