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U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced fresh tariffs on Iran's trading partners in an apparent response to the rising number of people killed during recent protests.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that any country "doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran" will pay a 25% tariff "effective immediately". He said the tariff would be imposed on "any and all business being done" with the U.S.

“This order is final and conclusive,” Trump said without providing further detail. Top export destinations for Iranian goods include China, the United Arab Emirates and India. There was no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use to impose the tariffs, or whether they would be aimed at all of Iran’s trading partners.

Tensions Rise as Iran Protest Death Toll Mounts

Trump has said the U.S. may meet Iranian officials and that he was in contact with Iran’s opposition, while piling pressure on its leaders, including threatening military action. Tehran said on Monday it was keeping communication channels with Washington open as Trump considered how to respond to the situation in Iran.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Monday that airstrikes were among the “many, many options” that Trump was considering but that “diplomacy is always the first option for the president”.

“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said.

The announcement comes as the number of people killed during the nationwide protests in Iran has reached at least 646, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said on Tuesday. Footage circulating online in recent days showed dozens of bodies lined up outside Tehran’s morgue. 

The Iranian regime has responded with a harsh crackdown including mass arrests, internet blackouts and public warnings that participation in the demonstrations could carry the death penalty.