In an intervention via the Truth Social platform, Donald Trump announced yesterday, Monday, that the US would impose additional 25% customs duties on any country that maintains trade with Iran, calling the decision “final” and specifying that it “takes effect immediately.”

China is Iran’s largest trading partner, with Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and India following in the list.

The move comes as the account of massive anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic continues to grow. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, the death toll from the nationwide protests has reached at least 646 and the number is expected to rise further.

The US president is reportedly considering a wide range of measures to increase pressure on Tehran, including military options, amid continued exchanges of threats between the leaders of the two countries and Israel in recent days. Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military intervention in response to the protests. White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said yesterday that Trump is “not afraid” to use the military in Iran but prefers diplomacy. Speaking on Fox News network’s America Reports, Levitt also said that Iran is privately sending “very different” messages to Washington than what it publicly states.

“They just kept killing”

Testimonies from Iranian protesters who spoke to the BBC captured the escalating repression in stark terms. “Omid”, aged about 40 – name changed for security reasons – described in a shaky voice how he saw “with his own eyes” security forces firing directly into the lines of protesters, with people falling dead on the spot. As he pointed out, security forces used Kashnikov automatic weapons against unarmed civilians in the small southern Iranian town where he was participating in the protests due to the deteriorating economic situation. “We are fighting against a violent regime with empty hands,” he said.

Similar testimonies were recorded by the British network from other parts of the country. A young woman from Tehran described last Thursday as a “Day of Crisis.” “Even remote neighborhoods of the city were full of protesters – places you couldn’t imagine,” she said. “But on Friday, the security forces just killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my own eyes made me break down, I completely lost my morale. Friday was a bloody day.”

He said after Friday’s killings, people were afraid to come out and many were now shouting slogans from the alleys and inside their homes. Tehran was a battleground, he added, with protesters and security forces taking positions and covering the streets. However, he stressed, “In a war, both sides have weapons. Here, people only shout slogans and get killed. It is a one-sided war.”

Eyewitnesses in Fardis, a city west of Tehran, said that on Friday, members of the paramilitary force, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, suddenly attacked the protesters after hours in which there was no police presence on the streets.

According to testimonies, the men of this militia, wearing uniforms and moving on motorcycles, opened fire with live ammunition directly at the protesters. At the same time, they said, unmarked cars entered alleyways, with the occupants shooting even at people who were not even participating in the demonstrations. “Two or three people were killed in each alley,” one of the witnesses claimed.

Ali Khamenei: Pro-regime demonstration a warning to the US

Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called the large mobilization of regime supporters who took to the streets en masse yesterday in response to the protest movement that has been rocking the country for the past two weeks a “warning” aimed at the US.

“It was a warning to American politicians to stop their misleading machinations,” Khamenei said, according to state television.

“These mass gatherings, a sign of determination, led to the failure of the foreign enemies’ plan that would have been implemented by Iranian mercenaries,” he added.

UN: Deadly violence against protesters in Iran violates international law

The United Nations’ deep concern over the violent crackdown on protests in Iran was expressed by the UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarik, underlining that the use of lethal force against protesters is a violation of international human rights law.

Responding to questions from reporters at UN headquarters, Mr. Dzuzarik noted that the Secretary-General “was very clear in the language he used about what is happening in Iran and about the repression and the deaths of civilians,” calling the situation “very worrying for the Middle East.” Asked whether the Secretary-General believes that the use of lethal force against protesters in Iran violates international human rights law, Dujarik replied that “yes, it does.”

“There is an inherent right of people to demonstrate peacefully,” the spokesman said, noting that law enforcement authorities must protect peaceful protesters. “Law enforcement must protect those who want to demonstrate peacefully. If there is violence, the use of force must be proportionate, which we have not seen from what we have witnessed,” he added.

Referring to the difficulties of confirming figures due to restrictions on internet access, Mr. Dzuzarik said there was no confirmed number of casualties, but stressed that “it is clear to us that several people, civilians, have been killed.”

Asked about the possibility of foreign intervention, Mr. Dujarik said the UN “promotes dialogue” and wants “Iranians who want to demonstrate peacefully to be able to do so,” stressing that “the Charter is very clear.”