ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday censured Iran for continuing to execute protesters and failing to pay the salaries of "large segments" of its military, calling it a "humanitarian crisis of epic proportions."

"The failing Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large segments of their military, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, at levels not seen before. It is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and must be stopped, NOW," the president wrote on Truth Social.

Trump has long criticized Tehran for its heavy-handed crackdown on the participants of January anti-government protests across the country, claiming in the build-up to US-Israeli military action against Iran in late February that authorities had killed over 32,000 people during the unrest.

The outbreak of conflict stifled the public discontent that emerged amid economic woes in Iran, while US and Israeli plans to arm anti-regime elements did not produce any significant results.

The US president's claim that Iran is unable to pay its servicemembers was echoed in US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's Monday announcement of 'Operation Economic Outcast,' an extensive sanctions campaign targeting third parties that engage in trade with Iran and facilitate its oil exports.

"To the ordinary soldiers supporting this regime, as more and more of your paychecks stop or are supposedly just delayed, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin," said Bessent.

"Recall that the Berlin Wall fell when ordinary soldiers decided not to shoot at their own people," he continued, referencing the unexpected passivity of border guards manning the frontier between West and East Berlin in 1989 when Germans from both sides ended the partition of the capital.

The US and Trump have repeatedly called on Iranian military and security personnel to defect and lay down their arms.

Iran has publicly brushed off the latest US economic action, with parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Monday saying that "the United States is not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries" and that "Iran's trading partners, both in the media and through messages sent to us, have made it clear that they don't take these statements into account."

However, the Iranian rial on the same day fell to a historic low, dropping to 2.02 million to the US dollar on unofficial market rates.

The week prior, the UAE - targeted by Iran more than any other country during the regional war - announced that it would suspend all trade and financial dealings with Tehran.