Trump tells Iranians 'help is on the way'

The death toll from protests in Iran reached 2,571, the U.S.-based HRANA rights group said on Wednesday, as the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers try to quash the biggest wave of dissent in years, sparking threats of U.S. intervention.

A renewed confrontation between Washington and Tehran, following an Israeli and U.S. war against Iran last year targeting its nuclear program, would further unsettle the Middle East, already battered by the two-year war in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting, promising help is on the way.

Iranian officials, however, have accused the U.S. and Israel of fueling violence in the country and blamed the deaths on "terrorist operatives" receiving foreign guidance to instigate.

HRANA said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 people aged under 18 and nine non-protest civilians.

An Iranian official said on Tuesday that about 2,000 people had been killed, the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of nationwide unrest.

'Help is on the way'

Asked what he meant by "help is on its way," Trump told reporters they would have to figure that out. Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.

Trump already announced 25 percent import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran, a major oil exporter. China, which buys much of Iran's oil exports, swiftly criticized the move.

In a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source present for the conversation.

Iran vowed to retaliate against any attack by targeting Israel and U.S. bases and ships.

The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, poses the biggest internal challenge to Iran's rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure on Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs.

Trump said he cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the "senseless killing" of protesters stopped and in a later comment told Iranians to "save the name of the killers and the abusers ... because they'll pay a very big price."

Iran's diplomatic efforts

Iranian officials have intensified diplomatic contacts in the region in the past few days, holding calls with Qatar, Turkish, and Iraqi officials.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi had spoken with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The Arab Gulf country is one of Iran's big trading partners, but also a close ally to both the U.S. and Israel.

Aragchi told Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan that "calm has prevailed [in Iran] thanks to the vigilance of the people and law enforcement forces," and Iranians are determined to defend their national sovereignty and security against any foreign interference, said the Iranian foreign ministry.

Aragchi spoke on Tuesday with France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, and called on him to condemn "foreign interventionists in the internal affairs" of Iran.

France had summoned the Iranian ambassador over the "unbearable and inhumane" crackdown by Iranian authorities to quell protests across the country.

The protests began on Dec. 28 over the fall in value of Iran's rial currency and have grown into wider demonstrations and calls for the fall of the clerical establishment.

So far, there are no signs of fracture in the security elite that could bring down the clerical system in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran's authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate.

Iran's chief justice, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, said on Wednesday, during a visit to one of Tehran's prisons where people arrested in protests are being held, that speed in punishing those "who beheaded or burned people" was critical to ensure that such events would not take place again.