The death toll from unrest in Iran climbed to almost 2,600, a rights group said on Wednesday, as Tehran stepped up diplomatic contacts with U.S.-allies in the region over a crisis that has drawn threats of intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to an Israeli assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, but the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an Israeli official said.
A second Israeli source, a government official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was briefed late on Tuesday about the chances of regime collapse and the chances of U.S. intervention in Iran, an arch-foe with which it fought a 12-day war last year.
Meanwhile, some personnel were advised to leave the U.S. military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening, three diplomats told Reuters.
The U.S. embassy in Doha had no immediate comment.
Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest U.S. base, housing around 10,000 troops. Ahead of the U.S. air strikes on Iran in June, some personnel were moved off U.S. bases in the Middle East.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran started hanging protesters, but didn’t elaborate. “If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,” he said. He also urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way” but without giving details.
Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown. Iran has vowed to retaliate in the event of military action.
Iranian officials project calm
In response to Trump’s social media post on Tuesday indicating that “help is on the way,” Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the U.S. president was inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security, and seeking to destabilize the government.
The protests, which began on Dec. 28 in response to soaring inflation, have spiralled into one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
WATCH | How might the U.S. intervene aside from military action:
As thousands are feared to be dead in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump says ‘help is on its way,’ and is encouraging anti-government protesters to stay in the streets. Omid Memarian, Iranian human rights expert and senior fellow at DAWN, a Washington-based organization focused on the Middle East, says a U.S. intervention could take ‘many different forms.’ There’s been a lot of ‘contradictory messaging’ coming from the White House, says Memarian, adding the U.S. may be doing that to ‘preserve the element of surprise.’
Despite Trump’s tough talk, just two weeks after he was buoyed by the quick-strike, controversial military operation that seized Venezuelan autocrat Nicolás Maduro, Iran’s chief justice said that speed in judging and penalizing those “who beheaded or burned people” was critical to ensuring such events do not happen again. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comments about trials and executions in a video, visiting a Tehran prison where arrested protesters are being held.
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, has reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, was to be executed on Wednesday.
Hengaw told Reuters on Wednesday it had not been able to confirm whether Soltani’s sentence had been carried out due to the internet and communications shutdown. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
Iranian state media reported that the head of Iran’s top security body had spoken to the foreign minister of Qatar and that Iran’s foreign minister had spoken to his Emirati and Turkish counterparts. The countries are all U.S. allies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “calm has prevailed” and that Iranians were determined to defend their sovereignty and security from any foreign interference, state media reported.
The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout. Holistic Resilience, a U.S. organization that works to expand information access in repressive or closed societies, said on Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service was now available for free in Iran.
U.S.-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals.
State TV said that a funeral procession will take place on Wednesday in Tehran for more than 100 civilians and security personnel killed in the unrest.
Russia condemns interference in Iran affairs
Iranian authorities have accused the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, blaming violence on people it calls terrorists who have attacked security forces, mosques and public property.
While Iranian authorities have weathered previous protests, the latest unrest is taking place with Tehran still recovering from last year’s war and with its regional position weakened by blows to allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel.
WATCH | Iran leverage has plunged since Oct. 7: former State Dept. official:
As anti-government protests in Iran intensify, U.S. President Donald Trump is urging Iranians to continue demonstrating, saying ‘help is on its way.’ Dana Stroul, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, weighs in as reports estimate at least 2,000 people have been killed over two weeks of protests and about 10,700 detained.
Trump on Monday announced 25 per cent import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran, which is a major oil exporter.
The U.S. State Department earlier this week urged American citizens to leave Iran now, including by land through Turkey or Armenia.
Russia on Tuesday condemned “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics, saying any repeat of last year’s U.S. strikes would have “disastrous consequences” for the Middle East and international security.
