More than 2,500 people have died during nationwide protests in Iran over the past 17 days, activists said Wednesday.

President Trump expressed uncertainty over whether Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi would be able to muster support in Iran to eventually take over.

U.S. President Donald Trump is closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Iran, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, adding Trump and his team have warned Tehran there would be “grave consequences” if killings linked to its crackdown continue.

At least 572 people have been killed as security forces try to quash the unrest, activists say, with the true scale of the crackdown yet to become clear amid an internet blackout.

The report came after the US appeared to shift towards diplomatic means of pressure to stop the Iranian crackdown on protesters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally asked US President Donald Trump to hold off on a US military attack on Iran,

President Donald Trump expresses uncertainty about exiled Iranian crown prince's potential leadership role, saying "I don't know how he'd play" in future Iran.

Much of Donald Trump's coalition is up in arms over his heel-turn on Iran, openly disputing his claim that the Iranian regime has stopped "killing."

"There is only the slow, uncertain task of granting Iranians leverage over their own future and the moral imperative not to squander their courage in yet another Middle Eastern misadventure," writes A