President Donald Trump said the US may meet Iranian officials and was in contact with the opposition, as he weighed a range of strong responses, including military options, to escalating protests posing one of the biggest challenges to the government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump said Iran called to negotiate its nuclear programme, which Israel and the US bombed in a 12-day war in June. Trump has warned Iran’s leaders that the United States would attack if security forces open fire on protesters.
“The leaders of Iran called” yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that “a meeting is being set up… They want to negotiate.”
However, Trump added that “we may have to act before a meeting“.
Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a US official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters travelling on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation.” “Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran has not given an official casualty toll for the protests, and Reuters was unable to independently verify tallies of rights groups.
The protests began on December 28 in response to soaring prices, before turning against the authorities in Iran, which has governed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Near paralysis
In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city in a state of near paralysis.
The price of meat has nearly doubled since the start of the protests, and many shops are closed. Those that do open must close at around 4:00 or 5:00pm, when security forces deploy en masse.
There were fewer videos showing protests on social media Sunday, but it was not clear to what extent that was due to the internet shutdown.
One widely shared video showed protesters again gathering in the Pounak district of Tehran shouting slogans in favour of the ousted monarchy.
The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, which was backed by the United States.
State TV has aired images of burning buildings, including a mosque, as well as funeral processions for security personnel.
But after three days of mass actions, state outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic on Sunday.
Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that “the number of protests is decreasing”.
The Iranian government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs” including members of the security forces killed.
President Masoud Pezeshkian also urged Iranians to join a “national resistance march” Monday to denounce the violence.
In response to Trump’s repeated threats to intervene, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would hit back, calling US military and shipping “legitimate targets” in comments broadcast by state TV.
Trump says he will talk to Musk about restoring internet in Iran
Trump also said that he plans to speak with billionaire Elon Musk about restoring internet in Iran, where authorities have blacked out services for four days.
“He’s very good at that kind of thing, he’s got a very good company,” Trump told reporters in response to a question about whether he would engage with Musk’s SpaceX company, which offers a satellite internet service called Starlink that has been used in Iran.
Musk and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout since Thursday.
Son of ousted Iran shah urges security forces to ‘stand with the people’
The US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah urged Iranian government workers and security forces to join the swelling protest movement in the Islamic Republic.
“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,” Reza Pahlavi posted on social media.
Pahlavi, who has emerged as an opposition figurehead, also called for replacing the flags outside of Iranian embassies with the pre-Islamic revolution flag.
“The time has come for them to be adorned with Iran’s national flag, in place of the disgraceful banner of the Islamic Republic,” he said.
In London, protesters managed to swap out the Iranian embassy flag over the weekend, hoisting in its place the tri-coloured banner used under the last Shah.
The ceremonial, pre-revolution flag has become an emblem of the global rallies that have mushroomed in support of Iran’s demonstrations.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador in Tehran on Sunday over the flag swapping, according to the official IRNA outlet.
