Trump says Iranians not protesting because they don't have weapons

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iranians are deterred from protesting because they lack weapons, arguing that even large crowds would be unable to withstand armed crackdowns.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump described scenarios in which demonstrators would be targeted by gunfire, arguing that fear of violence prevents mass protests from continuing.

“I don't want to say that, but yeah. I mean, people say, Why aren't they protesting? They want to protest, but they don't have any guns,” Trump said. “So you could have 200,000 people protesting, and have five or six sick people with guns, and when they start shooting them right between the eyes… very few people would be able to stand there and do it.”

He referred to the massacre of 40,000 protesters in January and also the 2022 crackdown on the Woman Life Freedom protesters, saying large crowds dispersed after individuals were shot.

“They had 200,000 women protesting… and then all of a sudden, a woman dropped dead with a bullet… And another woman dropped… and then there was panic, and then they ran,” he said.

“I don't want that to happen. We don't need that,” Trump added, while reiterating that protesters “want to protest so badly, but they don't have weapons.”