Following Trump's cancellation of meetings with Iranian officials due to the violence, Iran's national security chief Ali Larijani accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump of being the “main killers of the people of Iran” as protests across the nation escalated and over 2,000 people were reported dead.
Larijani, a former speaker of the Iranian parliament and current secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, commented on X only hours after Trump called on Iranians to "take over" government institutions.
As Iran's clerical establishment intensified its assault on the largest protests in years, Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to continue protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, promising assistance is on the way.
When asked what he meant by "help is on its way," Trump responded that reporters would have to figure it out. Trump has stated that one of the alternatives he is considering to penalize Iran for the crackdown is military force.
After returning to the Washington region from Detroit, Trump stated, "The killing looks like it's significant, but we don't know yet for certain," adding that he would learn more after learning about the Iran protests on Tuesday night.
"We'll act accordingly," he declared. On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department advised Americans to leave Iran immediately, including by land via Armenia or Turkey.
