In a blunt message posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump addressed what he called ‘Iranian Patriots,’ telling them to ‘KEEP PROTESTING, TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS.’ He added that he had suspended all meetings with Iranian officials until what he described as the ‘senseless killing’ of protesters came to an end.

The message was striking not only for its tone, but for its timing, as unrest continues to spread across Iranian cities.

The protests, driven by worsening economic conditions and long simmering public anger, have become the most serious internal challenge to Iran’s clerical rulers in at least three years.

They come at a moment when the country is already under heavy international pressure following Israeli and U.S. strikes last year, leaving Tehran squeezed both at home and abroad.

For the first time, Iranian authorities acknowledged the scale of the bloodshed. An Iranian official told International news agency ‘Reuters’ that around 2,000 people had been killed during two weeks of nationwide unrest.

The official blamed what he called ‘terrorists’ for the deaths of both protesters and security forces, though no clear breakdown was provided.

The admission marks a rare public recognition of the human cost of the crackdown.

Washington has also moved on the economic front. On Monday evening, Trump announced a 25% import tariff on goods from any country doing business with Iran, a major oil exporter.

He warned that further military action remained on the table, saying earlier this month that the United States was ‘locked and loaded.’ Tehran has not yet responded publicly to the tariff threat, but China was quick to criticize the move. Iran currently sells much of its oil to China, with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its key trading partners.

Russia reacted sharply to Trump’s comments, condemning what it described as ‘subversive external interference’ in Iran’s internal affairs.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said U.S. threats of new military strikes were ‘categorically unacceptable’ and warned that using unrest as a pretext for aggression could have disastrous consequences for the Middle East and global security.

Despite the growing turmoil, there are still no clear signs of cracks within Iran’s powerful security elite, an element many analysts say would be crucial for any real change in the system that has ruled since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The state’s security apparatus remains intact, even as economic pressure and public frustration mount.

Still, uncertainty is spreading beyond Iran’s borders. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the government in Tehran is nearing its end. ‘I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime,’ he said, adding that a government forced to rely on violence to survive is already losing its grip. He did not say whether his assessment was based on intelligence or political judgment.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed Merz’s remarks, accusing Berlin of double standards and saying the comments had stripped Germany of ‘any shred of credibility.’

As protests continue and global tensions rise, Iran stands at a crossroads, caught between a restless population, mounting economic pain, and an increasingly divided international response.