The White House said “all options are on the table” for the United States to take military action against Iran, reiterating that Tehran would face “severe consequences”. Killing of anti-government protesters continue
During a press conference on Thursday, White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said that US President Donald Trump and his team had informed Iran that “if the killings continue, there will be serious consequences”.
Recommended stories
3 List of itemsEnd of list
“The president has learned today that 800 executions that were scheduled and were to take place yesterday have been stopped,” Leavitt told reporters, without providing any evidence for the halted executions.
“The President and his team are closely monitoring the situation and all options are on the table for the President,” she added.
Her comments came hours after Trump’s visit Soften its tone After days of threats against Iran, the US president said his administration would take military action against Tehran if it carried out more killings.
Tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets since late December last year due to soaring inflation and a sharp devaluation of the local currency.
Protests have spread to cities and towns across Iran, and activist groups say more than 1,000 protesters have been killed in the unrest.
The Iranian government, which describes the protesters as armed rioters backed by the US and its key regional ally Israel, has said more than 100 security officers have been killed in attacks during the protests.
Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify these figures.
soft spoken
After days of heightened tensions and fears of a US military strike against Iran, Trump on Wednesday toned down the rhetoric and said he had received assurances that the killing of protesters had stopped.
Foreign Minister Abbas of Iran Araghchi also refused Tehran planned to execute any protesters. “The death penalty is out of the question,” he told the Fox News broadcaster.
The foreign minister said earlier this week that Iran was ready for war if the US wanted to “test” it.
“If Washington wants to test a military option that has been tested before, we are ready for that,” Araghchi said. an interview Monday with our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
‘The Great Uncertainty’
Information on what was happening on the ground in Iran was difficult Thursday as a nationwide internet blackout hit the one-week mark, according to Online Monitor. NetBlocks.
But residents of Iran’s capital, Tehran, said security had been beefed up in the meantime. Constant uncertainty.
“There is a huge military presence on the streets of the capital and elsewhere,” said a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty. A lot of people are worried,” he said. “There is plenty of death, sorrow and anger.”
A commander in Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also said the country’s armed forces were on high alert.
IRGC ground forces commander Brigadier General Mohammad Karami said the army was “prepared at the highest level”, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported.
Separately, Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned that the government would use all its capabilities to “suppress promiscuous armed terrorists”. Behind the turmoil.
In comments broadcast on Iranian state television, Nasirzadeh reiterated the government’s previous claims that the protests were orchestrated by the US and Israel.
“The designers and implementers of riots should know that we are watching them”, he added.
Meanwhile, despite Trump’s soft-spoken tone, Washington issued new sanctions Protests crackdown against Iran on Thursday morning.
Solution It targeted Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), and several other officials, whom Washington accused of being the “architects” of the Iranian government’s “brutal” response to the demonstrations.