Donald Trump said Iran has approached the United States seeking negotiations, whilst his administration examines “very strong” military options following a deadly crackdown on protesters that has killed at least 538 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday cited by the Guardian, Trump said Iran appeared to be crossing his previously stated red line on protester deaths. “They’re starting to, it looks like,” he said when asked about the threshold.
“We’re looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”
The US president said Iran had proposed talks as tensions escalate. “I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” he said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported at least 538 deaths in the violence, including 490 protesters, with more than 10,600 people arrested by Iranian authorities. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group put the protester death toll at 192. Rights groups said casualty figures varied as they struggled to access people inside Iran during a nationwide internet blackout, with all counts likely to be significant undercounts. The regime has not released its own figures.
The brutal crackdown has pushed Washington closer to intervention. Trump reiterated threats he made on Saturday night to help protesters. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, warned Washington against “a miscalculation”. “Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” he said, describing Israeli territory and American military installations in the Middle East as legitimate targets.
Trump is weighing options including military strikes, cyber weapons, expanded sanctions and online support for anti-government activists, according to reports.
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, on Sunday urged security forces and government employees to join the protests. “Employees of state institutions, as well as members of the armed and security forces, have a choice: stand with the people and become allies of the nation, or choose complicity with the murderers of the people,” he wrote on social media.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the country’s enemies of escalating the unrest and bringing “terrorists from abroad into the country” in an interview broadcast on state media Sunday. He called for people to join a “national resistance march” on Monday to denounce the violence.
The protests represent the most significant unrest Iran has faced in years. Though initially sparked by a sharp currency devaluation, demonstrators quickly shifted to demanding political reform and the government’s overthrow.
Police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan announced Sunday that authorities had arrested key protest leaders. “Last night, significant arrests were made of the main elements in the riots, who, God willing, will be punished after going through legal procedures,” he told state television, without specifying numbers.
Iran’s attorney general said those caught protesting or helping protesters could face charges of being “an enemy of God”, which carries the death penalty.
Israeli officials said they were on high alert for any US intervention, with Israeli media reporting they are staying silent to prevent Iranian authorities from portraying the protests as foreign-backed.
Authorities imposed a nearly impenetrable internet blackout on Thursday. Human rights groups said Iranian forces used the shutdown’s cover to expand their crackdown, deploying deadly force and live ammunition against demonstrators.
Messages and videos emerge from Iran sporadically, mainly through activists using Starlink satellite internet. According to messages forwarded via the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, a protester in the central city of Sari reported security forces had placed the city under complete martial law.
(information from The Guardian)
