Trump rejects talks with Iran as protest deaths mount
President Trump urged Iranian anti-government protesters to hold the line while promising unspecified US assistance.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has promised Iranian protesters that “help is on the way,” writing in a social media post that he is canceling US meetings with Iranian officials until the bloodshed stops.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning. “They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS.”
At least 2,000 have been killed in the nationwide protests that erupted on Dec. 28, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Tuesday. Citing two sources, including one inside Iran, CBS reports that the death toll is likely closer to 12,000 and possibly as high as 20,000.
Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, responded to Trump’s post on X, writing, “We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu.”
In recent days, the Iranian government has suggested it was ready to reenter nuclear talks with Washington in what analysts said was an 11th-hour attempt to avert US military action. Trump told reporters Sunday that Iranian officials had reached out "to negotiate" as he weighed a response to the deadly protests, including potential military strikes.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a gathering of ambassadors in Tehran that his country is prepared for war but “open to diplomacy” with the United States. The two countries conducted several rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations last year before the US conducted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
“HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!” Trump said, using his supporters’ acronym for “Make Iran Great Again."
The protest movement, which began in Tehran’s central bazaar over economic grievances, has spread to all 31 provinces of Iran and expanded to include calls for regime change.
This developing story has been updated.
