Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting as Tehran crackdown intensifies; Russia warns U.S. against new strikes; Europe weighs tougher sanctions
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting and said “help is on its way,” as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed a sweeping crackdown on the biggest demonstrations in years and an Iranian official acknowledged about 2,000 people had been killed in two weeks of unrest.
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump called on “Iranian Patriots” to “take over your institutions” and said he had canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing” of protesters stops. The protests, sparked by dire economic conditions, have posed the most serious internal challenge to Iran’s rulers in at least three years, coming after Israeli and U.S. strikes last year and amid deepening international pressure.
Tehran’s tax affairs building was badly damaged during the unrest, and pro-government crowds gathered at Enghelab Square in the capital in a show of support for authorities. Despite the scale of the demonstrations, there are no signs of fracture within the security elite that could threaten the system led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989.
Trump followed his warning with new economic pressure, announcing 25% import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran, a major oil exporter already under heavy U.S. sanctions. He said more military action remains among options to punish Iran over the crackdown, declaring earlier this month the United States is “locked and loaded.” Iran has not publicly responded to the tariff announcement, which drew swift criticism from China.
Iran exports much of its oil to China, with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.
Russia condemned what it called “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics and said U.S. threats of new military strikes were “categorically unacceptable.” The Foreign Ministry in Moscow warned that those seeking to use the unrest as a pretext for “repeating the aggression against Iran committed in June 2025” should understand the “disastrous consequences” for the Middle East and global security.
European leaders signaled rising concern and potential steps toward additional penalties. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the Iranian government is nearing its end. “I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime,” he said, arguing that a state reliant on violence to maintain control “is effectively at its end.” He did not specify whether his assessment was based on intelligence or other analysis.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi dismissed Merz’s comments, accusing Berlin of double standards and saying the chancellor had “obliterated any shred of credibility.”
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said he would prefer additional sanctions on Iran given the repression of protests. “I think we need an end to the repression that’s going on in Iran,” Martin said, calling the government “very repressive, anti-democratic, very authoritarian” and saying it has undermined women’s rights for a long time. He added that existing sanctions “have had an impact” and “continue to have an impact.”
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights.”
The unrest, fueled by a deep economic malaise and widening public anger, adds to the uncertainty surrounding one of the region’s dominant powers. While the scope of the protests and a newly acknowledged death toll underscore the gravity of the moment, Iran’s leadership and security forces have so far contained the challenge, even as foreign capitals debate how far to go in isolating Tehran and raising the costs of the crackdown.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
