SOURCE: CNN
- US President Donald Trump has canceled meetings with Iranian officials and encouraged protesters to keep demonstrating, saying “help is on its way”amid a brutal crackdown by Tehran. At least 1,850 protesters have now been killed in more than two weeks of demonstrations, according to a US-based rights group.
- Trump will meet with his senior national security team today to discuss his options in Iran, after announcinga 25% tariff on countries that do business with Iran. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the Iranian regime could be facing its “last days and weeks.”
- Some landline and mobile phone users in Iran have been able to call abroad for the first timemore than four days after the government shut down communications. But internet access remains cut off for a fifth day.
White House says Trump did not attend Iran meeting with national security officials
From CNN’s Kit Maher
President Trump did not attend a Tuesday morning meeting of national security principals regarding Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Air Force One on the way to Michigan.
Trump is giving remarks on the economy in Detroit, where Leavitt said Trump is likely to mention Iran.
CNN previously reported Trump was expected to convene senior national security officials to discuss how to proceed in Iran, but Leavitt said Tuesday he hadn’t been scheduled to attend this morning’s meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump said on Truth Social that he’s canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until “the senseless killing of protestors STOP.”
Trump had said on Sunday that Iran called to negotiate, adding that a meeting was being set up.
29 min ago
Iran’s death toll could be higher than reports say, but an internet blackout obscures it
From CNN’s Zahid Mahmood
Fears are growing that the number of people killed in Iran’s protest is much higher than what has been publicly reported, but with the country largely cut off from the internet, only a portion of the deaths can be confirmed.
In an update today, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said at least 1,850 protesters have been killed and at least 16,784 have been arrested since the unrest began in December.
HRANA has told CNN that its figures are based only on cases it has been able to identify and verify. But with Iran largely offline, the actual toll could be much higher.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks says the country has been without internet access for five days, since authorities imposed a nationwide shutdown last week — severely limiting the flow of images, videos and witness accounts.
Despite the blackout, CNN has been able to reach some people on the ground when brief landline and mobile calls become available. Multiple eyewitnesses have described violent crackdowns on protesters and “chaotic” conditions inside hospitals.
Rare video that surfaced over the weekend from inside Kahrizak Forensic Medical Center appears to show people crowded around a monitor, looking to identify their loved ones.
For context: Internet shutdowns are a core tactic of the regime’s playbook during periods of unrest. In 2019, Iran went almost entirely offline after nationwide protests gripped the country. And in the wake of 22-year-old’s Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022, the regime shut down the internet, making it harder to document what was happening on the ground. Iran has been under a near-total internet blackout for five days, according to cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks, as authorities crack down on anti-government protesters.
Earlier today, telephone communications appeared to have been partially restored, with some landline and mobile phone users able to call abroad for the first time since the blackout began last week.
Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, told CNN earlier in the week: “National blackouts tend to be the regime’s go-to strategy when deadly force is about to get used against protesters, with the goal being to prevent the spread of news of what’s happening on ground, and also to limit international scrutiny.”
At least 1,850 protesters have been killed, according to estimates from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
42 min ago
Several European countries summon Iranian ambassadors as Tehran brutally cracks down on protesters
From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury
A number of European nations have summoned Iranian ambassadors and are condemning Tehran’s violent clampdown on protesters.
Here’s what the countries are saying:
Germany’s foreign ministry posted on X: “The brutal actions of the Iranian regime against its own people are shocking. We urge #Iran to end the violence against its own citizens and to respect their rights. The Iranian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office today.”
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noël Barrot posted his remarks to the French Parliament on the matter on X: ”I have summoned the ambassador of Iran to Paris today. There cannot be impunity for those who turn their arms against peaceful protesters”
Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot posted on X: “The situation in Iran must concern us to the highest degree. That is why I had the Iranian ambassador to Belgium summoned today to firmly condemn all the violence committed by the regime, the arbitrary detentions, the intimidation, the Internet shutdown, all aimed at repressing a peaceful movement, a movement calling for democracy, the legitimate aspiration of Iranian women and men for a better life. I continue to follow the evolution of the situation with my European colleagues. Belgium is prepared to discuss new European sanctions.”
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said that he has summoned the Iranian ambassador over the “absolutely unacceptable” crackdown on demonstrators, according to Reuters. “These days, men and women across Iran are fighting in the streets and squares, paying a very high price,” Tajani told the country’s lower house of parliament.
