Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting, says “help is on its way” as Tehran presses crackdown
- SAUDI ARABIA BREAKING NEWS
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
WASHINGTON, January 13, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting and said “help is on its way,” without giving details, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until what he called the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped.
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and comes amid intensifying international pressure after Israeli and U.S. strikes last year.
An Iranian official said about 2,000 people had been killed in more than two weeks of nationwide unrest, the first time authorities have acknowledged a high death toll. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said people he described as “terrorist” were behind the deaths of both protesters and security personnel, without providing a breakdown.
On Monday evening, Trump announced 25% import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran and said further military action was among options he was weighing to punish Tehran over the crackdown.
Tehran has not responded publicly to the tariff announcement, but it was swiftly criticised by China. Iran, already under heavy U.S. sanctions, exports much of its oil to China, with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera he had continued to communicate with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff during the protests and that Tehran was studying ideas proposed by Washington.
Russia condemned what it called “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics and said U.S. threats of new strikes were “categorically unacceptable,” warning of “disastrous consequences” if unrest was used as a pretext for further aggression.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy summoned Iranian ambassadors over the crackdown. “The brutal actions of the Iranian regime against its own people are shocking,” the German Foreign Ministry said on X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believed the government would fall. “I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and week of this regime,” he said, adding that if it had to maintain power through violence, “it is effectively at its end.”
Araqchi dismissed Merz’s criticism, accusing Berlin of double standards and saying the German leader had “obliterated any shred of credibility.”
