President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared he has canceled all meetings with Iranian officials and told protesters in Iran that "help is on its way," urging them to take over the country's institutions as the death toll from Tehran's crackdown on nationwide demonstrations continued to climb.

"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!"

The president's message, which concluded with a reference to "Make Iran Great Again," came just two days after he said Iran wanted to negotiate with Washington following his threats to strike the Islamic Republic. The abrupt shift signals a hardening stance as human rights organizations report that thousands of Iranians have been killed in the regime's crackdown on protests that began in late December.

Trump did not offer details about what form of help he intended to provide. When asked by reporters to clarify, he said, "You're going to have to figure that one out. I'm sorry."

Rising death toll amid information blackout

The scale of Iran's crackdown has been difficult to verify due to an internet blackout that has been in place for five days. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday that 2,003 people whose deaths it had confirmed included 1,850 protesters, with 16,784 people detained, a sharp increase from figures released the previous day.

Other organizations have put the death toll significantly higher. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization has estimated that more than 2,000 people have been killed, while some reports suggest the number could be much larger.

Trump acknowledged the uncertainty, telling reporters that the killing "looks like it's significant, but we don't know yet for certain." He said he had heard "five different sets of numbers" about the death toll and was waiting for a briefing Tuesday evening.

"The message is they've got to show humanity," Trump said of the Iranian government. "They've got a big problem. And I hope they're not going to be killing people."

The protests began December 28 after Iran's currency collapsed, triggering a wave of anger that morphed into wider demonstrations against the Islamic regime. The Iranian rial has lost half its value over the past year, falling to a record low of 1 million rials per U.S. dollar last month.

Iran accuses U.S. of inciting violence

Iranian authorities responded sharply to Trump's statements. Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, accused the U.S. president of inciting violence and threatening the country's sovereignty in a letter to the U.N. Security Council.

"This reckless statement explicitly encourages political destabilization, incites and invites violence and threatens the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Iravani wrote.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is prepared for war if the United States chooses military action. "If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it," Araghchi told Al Jazeera, adding that he hoped Washington would choose negotiations instead.

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned that U.S. military installations in the region would be targeted if Washington attacks.

"Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target," said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

Ali Larijani, chief of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on social media that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were the "main killers of the people of Iran."

White House weighs options

Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force against antigovernment protesters. On Sunday, he told reporters he believed Iran was "starting to cross" that line and that his team was weighing "very strong options."

The president announced Monday he would impose 25 percent tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran "effective immediately," though the White House has not provided details on implementation. China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Brazil and Russia are among economies that conduct trade with Iran.

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and key White House National Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop options for Trump, ranging from diplomatic approaches to military strikes.

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump vowed "very strong action" if Iran started executing protesters. "If they hang them, you're going to see some things," he said.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday urged American citizens to leave Iran immediately, including by land through Turkey or Armenia.

International response and uncertainty

The protests have drawn international attention and condemnation of Tehran's response. Britain, France, Germany and Italy all summoned Iranian ambassadors in protest over the crackdown.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would swiftly propose further sanctions on those responsible for the repression of protesters. "The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying," she wrote on social media.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believed the Iranian government would fall. "I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime," he said, adding that if it had to maintain power through violence, "it is effectively at its end."

Analysts have expressed concern about the potential consequences of U.S. intervention.

"The Iranian people are caught between a repressive regime and foreign aggression," Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. "If the president decides to do political decapitation in Iran, what comes after? There's no organized, viable opposition inside Iran that can take over immediately."

Vaez warned that a power vacuum could lead to "violent chaos and civil strife in the way that we saw in Libya, or in Syria, or in Yemen, or in Iraq."

Holistic Resilience, a U.S. organization that works to expand information access in repressive societies, said Tuesday that Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service was now available for free in Iran.

The demonstrations represent the biggest internal challenge to Iran's rulers in at least three years and have come at a time of intensifying international pressure following Israeli and U.S. strikes last year on Iranian nuclear facilities.