Wave of protests
Iran: Trump promises help to demonstrators – depressed mood
Updated on January 13, 2026 – 8:24 p.mReading time: 4 minutes
After state violence, the protests in Iran are slowly losing intensity. European countries are increasing diplomatic pressure. But what is US President Donald Trump planning?
US President Donald Trump has suspended all talks with the leadership in Tehran until further notice in view of the state violence against demonstrators in Iran. “Iranian patriots, keep protesting! Take over your institutions!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. He canceled all meetings with Iranian government officials until the “senseless killing of demonstrators stops.” “You will pay a heavy price,” Trump wrote, announcing that help was on the way. What exactly he meant by that was initially unclear.
Meanwhile, some normality has returned to Iran. However, security forces and police were still stationed in central places in the cities, as residents said on the telephone. Some protest participants wanted the United States to intervene after Trump’s threats. “People had hope that something would happen.” According to eyewitnesses, the greatest violence occurred on the nights of last Thursday and Friday, when there was an absolute state of emergency in the city. From Saturday onwards, the demonstrations became increasingly smaller. There is a tense calm.
Meanwhile, activists reported a high death toll. At least 2,500 people have died since the protests began, the Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw reported, pointing out that its verification team is busy daily documenting deaths in the context of the mass protests.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), also registered in Norway, put the number of protesters killed at at least 734. But the organization also warned that the actual death toll could be significantly higher, even in the thousands. The Iranian state defended the violent crackdown by saying that the participants in the unrest were “terrorists” or “rioters.” All information cannot currently be independently verified.
On Monday, Trump announced a punitive tariff of 25 percent on imports from all countries that do business with Iran on his Truth Social platform. However, many questions remained unanswered: it was not clear which countries could specifically be affected. The most important trading partners of the Islamic Republic, which is subject to extensive sanctions by the USA and the EU, include China, India, the Emirates and Turkey. But EU countries such as Germany also conduct small amounts of trade with Iran.
