President Donald Trump has vowed to send help to protesters in Iran because the variety of those killed in demonstrations reached into the hundreds today.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: ‘Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!
‘Save the names of the killers and abusers. They may pay a high price. I even have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!’
The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran has spiked to no less than 2,000, activists said, with 1,847 of the dead being protesters and 135 being government-affiliated.
With the web down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown tougher.
Earlier today, Trump received a briefing from the Pentagon on options against Iran if the death toll continues to mount.
The US president is reportedly weighing up potential tools he could use against Iran if the situation within the country escalates following protests and reports of killings and mass arrests.
Trump was reportedly briefed on cyber and psychological operations, which could occur similtaneously traditional military attacks, two Pentagon officials told CBS News on condition of anonymity.
Air strikes and long-range missiles may very well be used, while a cyber campaign could disrupt the country’s command structures, communications and the state-run media, the insiders said.
The defence planners haven’t detailed what digital infrastructure is a possible goal, or what a psychological campaign against the state-run media could seem like if Trump were to present it a go-ahead.
No final decision has been made yet, and Trump’s national security team will probably be holed up in the White House today to debate Iran.
What has the UK said in regards to the protests?
Yvette Cooper said the Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian ambassador to the UK over reports of the country’s response to protests against the regime.
Speaking within the House of Commons, Ms Cooper said she had spoken to the Iranian foreign minister to ‘set out the UK’s total abhorrence of the killings, the violence, and the repression that we’re seeing’.
It has been reported that hundreds of individuals have been killed, and more arrested, as activists against the regime headed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have taken to the streets.
She said: ‘They’ve been met with probably the most bloody repression. A complete web shutdown instigated by the Iranian regime from January 8, together with restrictions on phone communications, signifies that the complete facts will not be yet clear.
‘But I’m fearful that the reports that we now have seen may underestimate the complete scale of the horror as further evidence and testimony reach the skin world.’
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