Trump Weighs Strong Military Action Against Iran as Protest Death Toll Rises

The US president says Iran is seeking talks, even as human rights organizations report that the government’s violent response to protests has resulted in hundreds of deaths.

Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has contacted him and offered to negotiate, as he considers “very tough” military action against the government over its deadly crackdown on protesters, in which hundreds are reportedly dead.

Asked by reporters on Air Force One on Sunday whether Iran had crossed his previously stated red line regarding the killing of protesters, Trump said, “It looks like they’re starting to do that.”

“We’re looking at it very seriously,” the US president said. “The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a decision.”

As tensions escalate, and against the backdrop of the US effort to oust Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, Trump said Iran had offered to negotiate. “I think they’re tired of getting beaten up by the United States,” he said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 538 people have been killed in the violence surrounding the protests, including 490 protesters.

The group said Iranian authorities have arrested more than 10,600 people.

Another human rights monitor, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, said on Sunday that at least 192 protesters had been killed.

The death toll varies among rights groups struggling to reach people in Iran amid an internet blackout in the country, but all are expected to be underestimates.

The government has not provided its own figures, and independent verification was not possible.

This brutal crackdown has increased the likelihood of US intervention, with Trump saying he would “protect” the protesters if the Iranian government killed them.

He reiterated his threat of intervention on Saturday night. He posted on Truth Social, “Iran is looking for freedom, perhaps like never before. The USA is ready to help!!!”

In response, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned Washington against “miscalculation,” saying that Israeli and US interests in the Middle East would be “legitimate targets.”

“Let us be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories and all US bases and ships will be our legitimate targets,” said Qalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Trump is reportedly considering several options, including military strikes, covert cyber weapons, increased sanctions, and providing online support to anti-government sources.

Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s deposed Shah, appealed on Sunday to Iranian security forces and government employees to join the growing protest movement.

“Employees of government institutions, as well as members of the armed and security forces, have a choice: stand with the people and be compatriots, or collaborate with the murderers of the people,” Pahlavi posted on social media.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview broadcast on state media on Sunday, accused Iran’s arch-enemies of “trying to fuel this unrest” and “bringing terrorists into the country from abroad.”

According to state television, Pezeshkian urged people to join a “National Resistance March” on Monday to condemn the violence.

The protests in Iran are the largest unrest the country has seen in years.

Although the protests initially began due to a sharp decline in the country’s currency, protesters soon demanded political reforms and called for the overthrow of the government.

Iranian authorities have arrested key members of the protest movement, the national police chief said on Sunday.

“Last night, a large number of the main instigators of the riots were arrested, who, God willing, will be punished after going through legal procedures,” Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan told state television. However, the number of those arrested was not specified.

Iran’s attorney general had previously said that those caught protesting or assisting protesters could be charged with being an “enemy of God”—a crime punishable by death.

Israeli officials said they are on high alert for any US intervention in Iran, and according to Israeli media reports, they are remaining silent on the issue so that Iranian authorities cannot claim the protest movement is supported by foreigners.

Authorities cut off internet access in the country on Thursday, imposing a near-impenetrable blackout across the country.

Rights groups said Iranian authorities had used the cover of the internet shutdown to escalate their crackdown on protesters, using lethal force and live ammunition to disperse demonstrations.

Messages and videos have occasionally emerged from Iran, mainly sent by activists with Starlink satellite internet services.

A protester in the central Iranian city of Sari said security forces had placed the city under full martial law, according to messages sent by the US-based Abdurrahman Boroumand Foundation.