U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to impose “very severe measures” if Iranian authorities hang demonstrators involved in the wave of protests rocking the country.
“We will take very severe action if they do something like that. We will take very severe action,” Trump said when asked in an interview with CBS News about reports that the Islamic Republic plans to begin executing protesters by hanging.
Trump issues warning to Iran
🇺🇸🇮🇷 During a speech broadcast in Detroit, President Donald Trump reiterated his call for Iranian protesters to “continue to protest and take control of their institutions.”
He said Iran was a great country “until these monsters came and took it over.” pic.twitter.com/nQoxecEm6G
– IMER News (@IMER_News) January 14, 2026
In subsequent statements to the press, Trump downplayed warnings from Iran, which promised a response in the event of a U.S. attack.
“Yes, Iran said that the last time I destroyed their nuclear capabilities, which they no longer have, so they’d better behave themselves,” the president said.
The Republican made these statements after Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh warned Washington that Iran will respond “more decisively to any new act of aggression.”
In turn, these words came after Trump threatened earlier Tuesday to cancel dialogue with the Iranian authorities until “the killings cease” during the protests shaking the country.
And of Trump assuring protesters that “help is on the way.”
The protests that began on the 28th reached their climax last Thursday with an explosion of demonstrations practically all over the country.
This resulted in acts of vandalism against public agencies, banks that were razed to the ground, and the burning of 53 mosques throughout the country, according to official sources.
Human Rights Activists (HRA) said it has confirmed the deaths of a total of 1,850 people, including nine minors, in the 17 days of anti-government protests in Iran.
As well as more than 16,700 arrests, according to its news agency HRANA.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, told a press conference that “there is no verified figure” from the agency on the number of people killed in the protests.
But he said that “it is clear that an unacceptable number of civilians have died.”
Filed under: Trump issues warning to Iran
With information from EFE
