ADDS MORE QUOTES BY TRUMP; REVISES DECK
By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that no clear information is available on how many protesters have been killed in Iran amid nationwide unrest.
Asked how many protesters have been killed, Trump said: "Nobody has been able to give me an accurate number."
"Everything is a lot. One is a lot. But I have heard numbers much lower, I have heard numbers much higher. We'll probably find out over the next 24 hours. I think it’s a lot. It’s too many," he said during a trip to a car plant in Michigan.
When asked what kind of aid would be provided to protesters after he earlier said “help is on the way," Trump stated: "You're gonna have to figure that one out, I'm sorry."
Speaking later at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump once again encouraged the protesters, saying: "To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting, take over your institutions, if possible, and save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you."
Warning that the "abusers" of Iranian protestors will "pay a very big price," the US president said he had "cancelled all meetings with the Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protestors stops."
"All I say to them (protestors) is help is on its way," he said, citing the latest tariffs he had applied on countries doing business with Iran.
He added, "Make Iran great again," saying that it "was a great country until these monsters came in and took it over, and it's all very fragile."
Iran has been rocked by widespread protests in recent weeks amid a deteriorating economy and the rapid depreciation of the Iranian currency, the rial.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based group, estimates a death toll of at least 646, including both security forces and protesters, with over 1,000 injured.