US President Donald Trump has said Iran reached out to America, proposing ‘negotiations’, after he threatened action post the latter’s crackdown on protesters. He added that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with authorities 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 beaten up by the United States and Iran wants to negotiate,” the US President said.
As many as 544 people are feared dead in a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran. More than 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were part of security forces. The Iranian government has not issued overall casualty figures yet. The internet is down and phone lines remain non-functional in Iran.
On the other hand, Tehran has warned that the US military and Israel would be ‘legitimate targets’ if America uses force to protect demonstrators. The threats came during a parliamentary speech by hardliner Mohammad Baagher Qalibaf, who directly threatened Israel, calling it “the occupied territory".
“In the event of an attack on Iran, 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.” 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 war in June with Israel. Any decision to go to war would rest with Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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