The reported death toll in Iran resulting from protests against the government has alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Over 2,000 people have died, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a United States-based humanitarian and investigative nonprofit organization that launched an independent investigation. The death toll includes at least nine children. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned the number could be much higher.
“At least 12,000 Iranians fighting for freedom have been murdered by the regime,” Haley wrote on X Tuesday. “Possibly thousands more. The silence from those who claim to care about human rights is truly deafening.”
However, some lawmakers did speak out against the violence, following the lead of President Donald Trump. The president encouraged protesters to continue and “TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!
“Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. “HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also called to “destroy the infrastructure that allows the massacre and slaughter of the Iranian people, and take down the leaders responsible for the killing” in an X post Tuesday.
“There is no bigger threat to world order than the Iranian ayatollah’s religious Nazi regime that wantonly kills its people, supports international terrorism and has American blood on its hands,” Graham wrote. “The Iranian people’s long nightmare will soon be over. I am so proud of President Trump.”
President @realDonaldTrump is certainly not Obama. In my view, he is Reagan Plus when it comes to protecting America’s vital national security interests.
There is no bigger threat to world order than the Iranian ayatollah’s religious Nazi regime that wantonly kills its people,… https://t.co/q8euMQOsNi
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 13, 2026
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) condemned the “mass shooting of unarmed protestors” and “striking teenagers & ordinary families” but stopped short of calling for further action against Iran.
“The world needs to speak out against this barbarity and call for it to stop,” Khanna wrote on X Tuesday. “The United States though should not engage in military intervention or strikes without Congressional debate and authorization which will only be used by the Iranian regime to stoke an ugly nationalism.”
The Iranian regime’s mass shooting of unarmed protestors is horrifying & a gross violation of human rights. They are striking teenagers & ordinary families. They also have shut down communication platforms. The world needs to speak out against this barbarity and call for it to…
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 13, 2026
Current United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz suggested that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is under threat.
“The Iranian people are chanting ‘death to Khameni’ rather than ‘death to America.’ Freedom is in the air, thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” Waltz wrote on X Tuesday.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) suggested there was more that Trump could do.
“I urge the Trump Administration to restore U.S. programs to support these protestors, especially those that enable open internet access for Iranian civilians,” Rosen wrote on X Tuesday.
For far too long, the Iranian people have suffered under an oppressive and cruel regime. I stand firmly with the protesters fighting for an Iranian future free of state-sponsored violence and repression.
I urge the Trump Administration to restore U.S. programs to support these…
— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) January 13, 2026
WHAT ARE TRUMP’S MILITARY OPTIONS FOR IRAN?
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) filed a resolution condemning the violence against protesters. Ansari is a native Iranian.
Trump promised he would not be meeting with Iranian authorities until the violence ends.