U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran is killing its own citizens even in the absence of protests and on an unprecedented scale, declaring that the country’s humanitarian crisis “must be stopped immediately.” Trump made the remarks in a post on his Truth Social account, where he also said that Iran is unable to pay the salaries of large portions of its military.
1+“The faltering Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large portions of its military, while at the same time killing protesters, even in cases where they are not participating in protests—at unprecedented levels,” Trump wrote. “This is a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions, and it must be brought to an immediate end.” It remains unclear where Trump obtained the new information cited in his statement. However, according to Saudi media, the number of executions in Iran has continued to rise since the war began on February 28.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stressed that the Trump administration is not ruling out the use of military force against Iran, even as Washington pursues what it has described as a “decisive economic offensive” against Tehran. “We are in no way ruling out the use of military strikes anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz or throughout Iran,” Hegseth told reporters, according to Reuters. He added that Tehran would not be able to withstand the economic pressure being imposed on it.
1+Meanwhile, Washington has held off on immediately imposing additional sanctions against Iran. When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked why the United States was not already punishing those continuing to trade with Tehran, he said immediately activating secondary sanctions could have serious consequences for the global economy.