Demonstrations that began as outrage over the economy are facing a brutal crackdown as President Trump weighs military action.

A source inside Iran who was able to call out told CBS News on Tuesday that activist groups working to compile a full death toll from the protests, based on reports from medical officials across the country, believed the toll was at least 12,000, and possibly as high as 20,000.

The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran spiked Tuesday to at least 2,000 people killed, activists said, as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown.

Iran has deployed new techniques to swiftly and decisively crush nationwide protests, signaling a tactical shift by a regime that now views domestic dissent as an extension of the summer war with Israel.

Iran's government imposes five-day internet blackout as nationwide protests intensify, with at least 646 people killed and over 10,000 arrested during the crackdown.

Its security forces have brutally defended the Islamic Republic, but the protests show that many Iranians consider it stagnant and ideologically hollow.

Protests against immigration enforcement were taking place across the U.S. after federal officers shot three people in Minneapolis and Portland.

Iranian student Rubina Aminian was shot in the head at close range, joining thousands allegedly killed by government forces, according to Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group.

Anti-government protests have erupted across all 31 of Iran’s provinces in a wave of unrest that marks the biggest challenge to the regime in years.