By Steve Holland and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is treading carefully around the issue of mass protests in Iran amid some U.S. predictions that the unrest may not be widespread enough to challenge Tehran's clerical establishment.

In recent days Trump has warned Iranian leaders that there will be "hell to pay" if they crack down on the protest movement but has otherwise adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

"I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots … we’re going to hit them very hard,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.

Human rights groups have alleged that security forces have killed and injured numerous protesters.

But in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Trump only referred to demonstrators being "stomped on" in huge crowds and security forces "shooting the hell out of people" in the past.

The protests are the........

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