"Continuez à manifester", "l'aide est en route", lance Donald Trump aux Iraniens
On Tuesday, Donald Trump encouraged protesters in Iran to overthrow institutions and promised that "help" was on its way, while Tehran denounced "orchestrated unrest" to serve as a pretext for US military intervention.
"CONTINUE TO PROTEST - TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!", the US president wrote on his Truth social network, emphasizing that "a lot of help is on the way".
The US president has repeatedly threatened military intervention since the movement began on December 28, one of the largest since the proclamation of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
The Iranian mission to the UN on Tuesday accused the United States of seeking to overthrow the regime by force, "orchestrated unrest and chaos serving as a modus operandi to fabricate a pretext for military intervention."
The son of the former Shah of Iran, ousted from power in 1979 and a leading figure in the Iranian opposition in exile in the United States, Reza Pahlavi assured protesters on Tuesday that "the world has not only seen and heard your voice and your courage, now it is responding."
The crackdown has left at least 734 dead according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), which estimates, however, that the real number of deaths could be several thousand.
Credible reports indicate "large-scale killings carried out by security forces across the country," the NGO Human Rights Watch also states.
New videos, authenticated by AFP, have appeared on social media showing dozens of bodies lined up in a mosque south of the Iranian capital.
International condemnations poured in on Tuesday: the UN said it was "horrified" and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denounced a "frightening" death toll and said she was working on new sanctions against Tehran.
The EU and European capitals summoned Iranian ambassadors to denounce the "most brutal and bloody crackdown on protests" in years, according to London.
The White House stated on Monday that the possibility of airstrikes was still on the table, but that diplomacy remained "the first option".
Donald Trump also announced sanctions against Iran's trading partners - tariffs of 25% taking effect "immediately".
Iran has remained without internet access since January 8th. Human rights advocates accuse Tehran of using this to conceal the repression.
The IHR mentions 10,000 arrests.
"Violence is increasing, arrests are increasing too. The oppressors are shooting at random," reports Kian Tahsildari in Istanbul, relaying the testimony of friends in Mashhad (northeast Iran).
International telephone links, cut off since Friday, were restored on Tuesday from Iran to abroad but remain precarious, according to an AFP journalist in Tehran.
In the capital, security forces were less visible at Tehran's main intersections on Tuesday, he noted.
State media are broadcasting images of the damage on a loop and paying tribute to the members of the security forces killed.
Iranian authorities announced that a giant funeral ceremony would be held in Tehran on Wednesday in honor of the "martyrs" of recent days, referring primarily to them.
Since the beginning of the movement, initially linked to the cost of living, the government says it understands the demands relating to economic issues but accuses "rioters" controlled by foreign powers of being behind the violence.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that the decision to shut down the internet was made because of "terrorist operations" whose "orders came from abroad."
"We are prepared for any eventuality and we hope that Washington will make a wise choice. Whatever option they choose, we are ready," he added.
Aged 86, Ayatollah Khamenei has already faced significant challenges, notably during the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, triggered by a massive attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.
But these demonstrations "undoubtedly represent the most serious challenge" for the supreme leader "in years, both in terms of their scale and their increasingly explicit political demands," notes Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Center for International Studies at Sciences Po.
Analysts, however, consider it premature to predict the immediate fall of the Iranian theocratic regime, pointing out that the Islamic Republic has strong repressive levers, starting with the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Commentaires (6)
Des milliers de personnes sont rassemblées, ce 14 janvier, dans la capitale iranienne pour les funérailles de plus de 100 membres des forces de sécurité tués et autres «martyrs» lors des manifestations antigouvernementales.
Si on n'est pas couillonné par les médias, on comprend facilement dans chaque discours de Trump des signes d'échec.
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