Name: Trump will meet on Iran as regime official says 2,000 have been killed
Uploaded: 2026-01-13T15:05:23.530Z
Duration: 4 min 54 s
Description: President Trump is set to meet his national security team to discuss Iran as pressure mounts on the U.S. to respond to growing violence during anti-government protests. This comes as an Iranian official tells Reuters that around 2,000 people have been killed.

President Trump is set to meet his national security team to discuss Iran as pressure mounts on the U.S. to respond to growing violence during anti-government protests. This comes as an Iranian official tells Reuters that around 2,000 people have been killed.

Washington

President Trump's national security team is scheduled to meet at the White House to consider options for responding to Iran's crackdown on anti-regime protests. The meeting comes as an Iranian official told Reuters that approximately 2,000 people have been killed in the protests since December 28, a figure that would surpass any previously reported protest death toll since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979.

The protests have spread across all 31 provinces of Iran, with communication blackouts complicating the flow of information. The exiled Iranian Crown Prince has called for swift U.S. intervention, while President Trump has warned of tariffs on countries doing business with Iran. Human rights groups report that the crackdown may be even more severe than current estimates suggest, and most Iranians reportedly seek the end of the current regime.

Trump will meet on Iran as regime official says 2,000 have been killed

Today, President Trump's national security team is expected to hold a meeting at the White House. They'll discuss options for a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests. Protests has continued to demonstrate in all of Iran's 31 provinces. You're looking at some of the footage from that. And over the past two weeks, hundreds of them have reportedly been killed by the government's crackdown. Speaking to CBS News, Iran's exiled Crown Prince called on the U.S. to take action sooner rather than later. The best way to ensure that there will be less people killed in Iran is to intervene sooner so this regime finally collapses and puts an end to all the problems that we are facing. Meanwhile, in this post to Truth Social, President Trump is warning any country doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff on trade with the U.S. CBS News Foreign Correspondent Rami Inosensio continues his reporting on this story and joins us from our London bureau. Good morning, Rami. We've been discussing for so long now that comm lines are down across Iran. So just update our viewers on the situation inside the country as of this morning. Errol, yes, well, an Iranian official has just told the Reuters News Agency that around 2,000 people have been killed in these protests since December 28th, about half a month ago. Now, if accurate, this would surpass any officially reported death toll in protests since the Islamic Republic was established back in 1979. So we're talking about 50 years here, nearly 50 years. Now, that official blamed what he called terrorists for the deaths of both protesters as well as security personnel. And I just spoke to the Director of Iran Human Rights in Oslo about this and the internet blackout that's been in place since last Thursday. Take a listen. All the information that we are receiving shows that the violent crackdown of the protest has probably been much worse than we can even imagine. They shut off the internet. Basically, it's like solitary confinement. They put Iranian people into solitary confinement and start torturing and killing them. And he also shared with me something new we haven't heard in reports before. 75 people reported killed in a province two to three hours outside of Tehran, just to the north. You're looking at the Caspian Sea to the north there in the province of Mazandaran. He said that he received video last night, but he can't share it with us because it can be tracked. But again, this is more proof of how widespread these protests have been, again, across all 31 provinces. Now, the Iranian government has apparently eased some restrictions on communications. This is according to the Associated Press news agency. People can make calls outwards internationally via mobile phones, but people cannot still call inside. But the internet and text messaging, as we know, are all still blocked. Errol. And, Rami, I thought it was interesting during Nora's interview with the exiled crown prince that he said he would only oversee a transitional government. He could be a bridge, not a destination for the Iranian people. And he's just one of many people who may be part of what comes next. But where do things go from here? Because the regime is still intact. Right, the regime is existing, let's say. Whether it's intact, who knows? Even the regime may not know as they're trying to figure out what's happening these days. But, you know, I'm looking at the admission of about 2,000 people from this Iranian official saying that they've been killed, possibly as some kind of positioning, perhaps a control of the narrative, you know, blaming terrorists. Blaming terrorists, not the state. Another reason could be an attempt, perhaps, to deter even more people from protesting, you know, this number, a gut-wrenching number. It says that the government is willing to inflict death on others for its own survival. And the director of Iran Human Rights also told me that most people do want the downfall of the Ayatollah, as well as clerical rule, and that only some, some want Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah, to take over. Just a reminder. Like, absolute majority, they don't want the regime. Like, more than 80%. But in the remaining 80%, they are roughly divided into three groups. Those who would like to have Shah's son, those who oppose a monarchy, and those who haven't made up their mind. So, basically, priority number one is the downfall of the Islamic Republic for many of these people. Then, and only then, number two, a figure to lead them, and more people, he says, may become a parent and depending if the regime even survives. Just a remarkable sequence of events, and we'll join our Holly Williams in Iraq later this hour. Ramy, thank you very much.

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