In an exclusive interview with CBS News that aired Tuesday night, President Donald Trump told Iran’s regime that the US would “take very strong action” if the government started hanging protestors who were against the administration.
“We will take very strong action,” Trump told “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil in Dearborn, Michigan, adding that any move to execute protesters by hanging “is not going to work out good,” CBS reported.
Trump also posted on Truth Social that Iranian officials will “pay a big price” for violence, said he had canceled meetings with Iranian officials until killings stop, and told Iranians “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Pressed in the interview about what that help means, Trump said assistance is coming in “different forms,” including economic support, and referenced last year’s U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities without detailing new steps.
Asked about his “endgame,” Trump told CBS: “The endgame is to win. I like winning.” He cited past operations, including the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, the 2019 raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Iran has been gripped by more than two weeks of demonstrations that began in late December after a spike in living costs and spread nationwide, CBS reported. Communications have been heavily restricted since Jan. 8, complicating efforts to verify casualties.
CBS said its sources estimate at least 12,000 people — and possibly as many as 20,000 — are feared dead, a figure the network said it has not independently verified. CBS also reported video showing rows of body bags at Tehran’s Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre.
