Trump cancels talks, tells protesters ‘help is on its way’
Updated ,first published
Washington: US President Donald Trump said he canceled US talks with Iranian officials because of the regime’s wanton killing of protesters; Up to 2,000 people are now reported dead as the Islamic dictatorship tries to suppress the largest uprising in many years.
Trump, who is actively considering US military intervention, encouraged anti-government demonstrators to resist, encouraging them to “take over your institutions” and promising: “Help is on the way.”
“Keep the names of the murderers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday morning, US time. “I have canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOP.”
Just yesterday, the White House stated that it preferred diplomacy and kept military options, including air strikes, against regime targets on the table.
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday (AEDT) that diplomacy was “always the president’s first option” and that Tehran was privately conveying a different message to the administration than its dogged rhetoric in public. “I think the president is interested in investigating these messages,” Leavitt said.
However, Trump’s pause in diplomatic efforts and his promise of “help” to the demonstrators may indicate that his resolve has hardened, especially at a time when some figures in Washington are urging him to intervene using the US military.
Lindsey Graham, the interventionist Republican senator from South Carolina, said Trump’s decisive action would be the tipping point for the Iranian regime and a fatal blow for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“A massive wave of military, cyber and psychological attacks forms the flesh and bones of ‘help is on the way,'” Graham told X. “What am I looking for? Destroy the infrastructure that allows the slaughter and murder of the Iranian people and take down the leaders responsible for the murder.”
Reuters reported that an Iranian official said about 2,000 people have been killed so far during the protests, largely in line with activists’ claims. A spokesman for the United Nations human rights office said Iranian sources put the number in the hundreds, while the Saudi-linked opposition Iran International channel claimed the death toll was as high as 12,000.
The Islamic regime has cut off internet access in Iran and is trying to block Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, which protesters use to organize and communicate with the outside world. This makes it difficult to assess the death toll and the full extent of the demonstrations.
Bloomberg reported early Wednesday (AEDT) that Musk’s SpaceX was waiving subscription fees in Iran and offering the service for free. Still, with some phone services restored, more reports began coming in from within the country.
“I saw it with my own eyes; they shot straight into the line of protesters and people fell to the ground where they were standing,” one protester told the BBC.
The security forces of Omid, who was in his early 40s and whose name was changed by the BBC for his security reasons, opened fire with an assault rifle on unarmed protesters in his city. “We are opposing a brutal regime with empty hands,” he said.
Doctors in Iran say the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.
A doctor near Tehran told London: “The dead bodies and the injured (men, women and children) are arriving in trucks, ambulances and private cars.” Telegram.
“We can’t help everyone. Many died because we couldn’t visit them. Some of my colleagues fainted. There are shortages of everything… There are rivers of blood in the hospitals here.”
During a visit to Michigan earlier on Wednesday (AEDT), Trump refused to announce that aid was on the way. But in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, he implied that this was a reference to the 25 percent tariffs he announced for countries still doing business with Iran.
Trump also said the death toll was unclear. “I hear five different series of numbers [but] “One death is too many,” he said, and continued: “Everything is so fragile. This could have happened to us, I’m telling you. “This would have happened to us if I hadn’t won the election.”
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince and son of the deposed Iranian shah, is also among those calling on Trump for military intervention.
“The carnage has reached incredible proportions. The regime is using military machines (AK-47s) to shoot and kill protesters without mercy. Morgues are overcrowded,” he told Fox News.
“The deciding factor that everyone is waiting for is: When will the cavalry come? Part of the reason they’re still fighting in the streets is because they believe this president is determined to do what he promised.”
Vice President J.D. Vance dismissed a report Wall StreetJournal This suggested that, unlike Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he was trying to persuade Trump to seek a diplomatic solution rather than use force.
Vance’s aide, William Martin, released a statement saying Vance and Rubio together presented the president with a range of diplomatic and military options “without prejudice or favor.”
Governments in Europe summoned Iranian ambassadors to demand accountability for the brutality the regime inflicted on its own people. In its statement about X, the German Foreign Ministry described the actions of the Islamic Republic as “shocking”.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that Britain is preparing for new sanctions targeting Iran’s finance, energy, transportation, software and other sectors.
“This latest behavior by the Iranian regime is not an aberration. It is not an outlier. It is entirely consistent with the fundamental nature and track record of this regime,” Cooper told the House of Commons.
“Just like in 2022, it is clear that the Iranian regime is trying to portray these protests as the result of external influence and provocations.
“They use this accusation to incite opposition to protests among anti-Western Iranians and to try to justify their disgusting and sickening attacks on ordinary civilians walking the streets.”
Protests began on December 28 over the collapse of the currency and grew into wider demonstrations and calls for the destruction of the religious institution.
Iranian authorities adopted a dual approach, describing protests related to economic issues as legitimate, while at the same time applying pressure.
The United States, which has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980 and currently warns Americans not to travel to this country, issued a warning stating that US citizens in Iran should consider going to Armenia or Türkiye if it is safe.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: excitement or email.
