Fact-checking Trump's SOTU claims about Iran

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, US President Donald Trump made several false or inaccurate claims about the recent protests in Iran and Iran’s nuclear program. On protests: Trump claimed Iranian authorities had killed "it looks like 32,000 protesters." However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has reported far lower figures of verified deaths, saying at least 6,490 protesters had been killed since mass demonstrations erupted in late December. CNN cannot independently verify HRANA’s figures. Meanwhile, Iran claims 3,117 people died during the unrest, including about 200 officers. On Iran’s nuclear program: In his speech, Trump said he is amassing US military assets around Iran to ensure the country does not obtain a nuclear weapon. "They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. Iran, in fact, has repeatedly stated that it isn’t pursuing a nuclear bomb. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated on Tuesday, just hours before Trump’s address, that Tehran "will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon." Many world leaders, including Trump, remain skeptical of Iran’s nuclear intentions. But Trump’s claim referred specifically to whether Iran has publicly made such a declaration. On Iran’s long-range weapons: Trump also said that Iran has "already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America." It’s correct that there are major US military installations in the Middle East – in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – that could be threatened by Iran’s ballistic missiles. But Iran is not known to have or be developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach Western Europe or the United States. Following Trump’s speech, Iran’s foreign minister dismissed the claims that Tehran is developing missiles capable of reaching the United States, calling that "fake news" and saying Iran has intentionally limited the range of its missiles to below 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles), for deterrence and self-defense. It used some of those missiles against Israel after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the summer.