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

Tom Wait provides a look at the ongoing political turmoil in Iran, which has drawn three weeks of passionate protesting from citizens demanding a regime change.

Iran's internet was cut off late last Thursday, apparently in an attempt by government authorities to prevent protesters from organizing and uploading videos for the outside world to see. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams has more on the protests and Andrew Boyd,

The protests, in which more than 500 people have died, have grown into a more serious threat to the Islamic Republic.

U.S.-based human rights groups monitoring the protests in Iran estimate hundreds of demonstrators have been killed amid a communications blackout.

According to a U.S.-based human rights group, Iranian security forces are opening fire on protestors nationwide, reportedly killing hundreds of protestors and arresting thousands of others.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on protesters in nationwide demonstrations that activists said Monday had left at least 599 people dead.

Hundreds of thousands protest in Iran as government forces mobilize to stop the demonstrations. Human rights activists say more than 500 people have been killed in the last two weeks. The head of the Iranian parliament issued a new warning to the U.