AP PHOTOS: Conservatives celebrate German election win as the far right sees historic success

BERLIN (AP) — German opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, projections show.

Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

Merz said he was aware of the dimension of the task he faces to make a governing coalition and said that “it will not be easy.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats.

The election was dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy, pressure to curb migration and growing uncertainty over Europe’s alliance with the United States.

The Brandenburg Gate and the town hall tower, bottom right, are pictured in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, jogs in the early morning accompanied by a bodyguard in Potsdam, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

Resident casts a vote at a polling station in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, during the German national election. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), casts his vote at a polling station Arnsberg-Niedereimer, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, during the national election. (Oliver Berg/dpa via AP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz casts his vote at a polling station in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, during the German national election. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Gesa Schoenwolff, right, casts her vote at a polling station in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2025, during the German national election. (AP Photo/Philipp-Moritz Jenne)

Volunteers prepare postal votes during the German national election in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) speaks during the party's election party in Berlin, Germany, Subday, Feb 23, 2025. Slogan reads: 'Sahra Wagenknecht Party Chairwoman' (Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)

From left, Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of the Left Party (Die Linke), top candidate Heidi Reichinnek and Jan van Aken, co-leader of the Left Party (Die Linke) react during the party's election party in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Carsten Koall/dpa via AP)

The Willy Brandt sculpture can be seen next to a screen with the election forecasts at the headquarters of the German Social Democratic party (SPD) in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, during the national election. (Hannes P Albert/dpa via AP)

People react after first projections are announced during the election party at the Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and the top candidate Robert Habeck attend the election party of the Greens (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen) in Berlin Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.(Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

Exterior view of the Reichstag building, home of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

From left, Amira Mohamed Ali, co-leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), Jan van Aken, co-leader of the Left Party (Die Linke), Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor and member of the Greens, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Markus Soeder, leader of the German Christian Social Union, (CSU), Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD) and Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), attend a tv discussion after the national election in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Stefanie Loos/Pool Photo via AP)

People watch first prjections at a pub in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after the German national election. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), speaks during the election party at the party's headquarters in Berlin Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Soeren Stache/DPA via AP, Pool)

Leader of far right AfD Alice Weidel waves a German flag at the AfD party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after the German national election. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz waves after first projections are announced during the election party at the Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Friedrich Merz, right, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Markus Soeder, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), shake hands at the CDU party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

Friedrich Merz, front right, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), gestures while addressing supporters at the party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after the German national election. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)