The authorities in Tehran have repeatedly accused the United States and Israel of inciting anti-government protests in the West Asian country.<\/b>
\nUnited States President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and added that \u201chelp is on its way\u201d as anti-government protests in the West Asian country entered their third week.
The authorities in Iran have repeatedly accused the US and Israel of inciting the unrest. An unidentified Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that about 2,000 persons, including security personnel, have been killed in the protests and alleged that \u201cterrorists\u201d were behind the killings.
This marked the first time that the authorities in the country acknowledged the high toll following a crackdown on protesters.
On Tuesday, Trump said on social media: \u201cIranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING \u2013 TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price\u2026He added HELP IS ON ITS WAY.\u201d
Trump added that he had cancelled all his meetings with Iranian officials till the \u201csenseless killing of protesters stops\u201d.
\u201cThe killing looks like it\u2019s significant, but we don\u2019t know yet for certain,\u201d the news agency quoted Trump as saying. He added that he would know more after receiving a report on Tuesday evening about the protests.
On Monday, Trump had threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also said that military options, including air strikes, were still \u201con the table\u201d.
In response to the US president saying that \u201chelp is on the way\u201d, Iran\u2019s United Nation Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani on Tuesday reiterated that Trump was inciting violence, threatening the country\u2019s sovereignty and security, and seeking to destabilise the government, Reuters reported.
\u201cThe United States and the Israeli regime bear direct and undeniable legal responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives, particularly among the youth,\u201d the news agency quoted Saeid as telling the UN Security Council in a letter.
The protests in Iran, which began on December 28, were initially focused on discontent about rising inflation. However, they later expanded in scope as protesters in more than 100 cities demanded an end to clerical rule.
On January 8, the government snapped internet access and telephone lines, largely cutting off the country from the outside world. The restrictions were eased on Tuesday.
However, text messaging services were still down and internet users were only able to connect to government-approved websites locally.
On Monday, the US\u2019 virtual embassy in Iran urged its citizens to leave the West Asian country immediately, and to have a plan for leaving the country that would need US government help.
\u201cUS citizens should expect continued internet outages, plan alternative means of communication, and, if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or T\u00fcrkiye,\u201d the virtual embassy said.
On Tuesday, Trump also said that a tariff rate of 25% would be imposed on goods from countries doing business with Iran. While China is Iran\u2019s largest trading partner, India has been among the top five countries with which Tehran has had trade ties in recent years.
Without a trade deal with Washington, Indian goods are already facing a combined US tariff rate of 50%. A 25% so-called reciprocal duty was imposed on August 7, followed by an additional 25% punitive levy on August 27.<\/p>\n