According to Trump, his administration is in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but he cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on protesters, and as activists announced the death toll had risen to at least 544.
According to a report by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 10,600 people have also been detained over the two weeks of protests, and 48 of the fatalities were security personnel, and 496 were demonstrators.
Speaking with reporters on Sunday night aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States.” “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.”
Trump's comments followed his repeated threats to intervene militarily should Iranian authorities continue their deadly crackdown on protesters.
There was no immediate acknowledgement from Iran of the offering for a meeting, but Tehran last week vowed retaliation should Washington intervene militarily over the protests.
The Islamic Republic warned that the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation on Sunday, Trump said, “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” the US president said.
Analysts, however, believe the massive ongoing US military deployment to the Caribbean is a factor that the Pentagon and Trump’s national security planners must consider should Washington decide to intervene in Iran.
According to Trump, his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but he cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
The demonstrations began on 28 December 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.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult, and international media have 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.
Defiance in the Iranian Parliament
Meanwhile, the threat to strike the US military and Israel came during a parliamentary speech by Mohammad Baagher Qalibaf, the hardliner speaker of the body who has run for the presidency in the past.
“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centres, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”
Iranian lawmakers rushed to the dais in parliament, shouting, “Death to America!”.
It remains unclear how serious Iran is about launching a strike, particularly after its air defences were destroyed during the 12-day conflict in June with Israel. Any decision to go to war would rest with Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran targeted US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June last year, in retaliation for the United States' strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on 22 June as part of the Iran–Israel conflict.