Trump's Response to Continued Iranian Protests
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Protests in Iran continue, with US President Donald Trump warning Iran to end their nuclear ambitions and stop killing protestors or face the US military. Trump says that “it would be great if we didn’t have to use them” but they are also “ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfil its mission with speed and violence, if necessary.”
Protests in Iran have been increasing exponentially since December 2025: they began due to the all-time low in the Iranian economy, with the annual inflation rate at 40%, meaning essentials like meat, rice and cheese are beyond most people’s means. However, since then, the protests have expanded to wider political issues, with the mass nationwide protests now calling for the end of the Islamic Republic system.
Trump has deployed warships to the Middle East, and the UK has similarly deployed RAF Typhoons to Qatar last week. However, while Trump is actively threatening to attack Iran with the US military, the UK has been clear that its intention is to assist regional allies in self-defence if Tehran retaliates against the potential US strike. On the issue, Keir Starmer identified that “the big challenge here is to ensure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear programme”.
Trump states that, to stop US military action, Iran must do “two things”: “number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protestors,” with the President adding that “they are killing them by the thousands”.
The current death toll of protestors is difficult to estimate due to the ongoing internet black-out in Iran: the Iranian government acknowledged more than 3,000 dead, while US-based HRANA have verified more than 6,000 dead, with 17,000 deaths that are under investigation. Doctors in the region estimate up to 33,000 deaths. Testimonies from hospitals, morgues and graveyards say that the authorities are attempting to conceal the true death toll. This is allegedly done by transporting bodies in ice cream vans and meat trucks, burying people hastily, or by bodies disappearing from forensic sites.
On Thursday, the EU declared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation and added 15 government officials and 6 organisations to its sanctions list for their role in “serious human rights violations” in the repression of protestors.