WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran&#39;s leadership had called him seeking &ldquo;to negotiate&rdquo; after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters. For two weeks, Iran has been rocked by a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/fresh-protests-in-iran-as-internet-blackout-persists" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">protest movement</a> that has swelled despite a crackdown. Initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, the demonstrations have evolved into a serious challenge to the Iranian government. Information has continued to trickle out of Iran despite a days-long internet shutdown, with videos filtering out of the capital, Tehran, and other cities over the past three nights showing large demonstrations. &quot;The leaders of Iran called&quot; yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that &ldquo;a meeting is being set up... They want to negotiate.&quot; He added, however, that &quot;we may have to act before a meeting&quot;. &#39;Channel of communication with US open&#39; Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Monday that a channel of communication is open between Iran and US President Donald Trump&#39;s special envoy for the Middle East despite the lack of diplomatic relations.&nbsp;&quot;This channel of communication between our foreign minister (Abbas Araghchi) and the special envoy of the president of the United States is open,&quot; ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in comments broadcast by state television, in apparent reference to Steve Witkoff.&nbsp;&quot;Messages are exchanged whenever necessary,&quot; he said, noting that while the US has no diplomatic presence in Iran, its interests are represented by the Swiss embassy. &#39;Strong options&#39;&nbsp;US President Trump said he was considering potential military action against Iran, amid mounting reports of deadly crackdowns against the country&#39;s mass anti-government protests. &quot;They&#39;re starting to, it looks like,&quot; Trump said, when asked by reporters aboard Air Force One if Iran had crossed his previously stated red line of protesters being killed. &quot;We&#39;re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we&#39;re looking at some very strong options. We&#39;ll make a determination,&quot; he said. Meanwhile, a video circulating on Sunday showed dozens of bodies accumulating outside a morgue south of Tehran. The footage, geolocated by AFP to Kahrizak, showed bodies wrapped in black bags, with what appeared to be grieving relatives searching for loved ones.<h2 style="line-height: 2;"> </h2><h2 style="line-height: 2;">Near paralysis&nbsp;</h2>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.&nbsp; Those that do open must close at around 4:00 or 5:00 pm, 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 favor 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&#39;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.&nbsp; &lsquo;Legitimate targets&rsquo;Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that &ldquo;the number of protests is decreasing&rdquo;. The Iranian government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for &quot;martyrs,&quot; including members of the security forces killed. President Masoud Pezeshkian also urged Iranians to join a &quot;national resistance march&quot; on &nbsp;Monday to denounce the violence. In response to Trump&#39;s repeated threats to intervene, Iran&#39;s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-to-target-us-military-shipping-if-attacked-parliament-speaker" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Iran would hit back</a>, calling US military and shipping &ldquo;legitimate targets&rdquo; in comments broadcast by state TV. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Stand with the people&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran&rsquo;s ousted Shah, who has emerged as an anti-government figurehead, said he was prepared to return to the country and lead a democratic transition.&ldquo;I&#39;m already planning on that,&rdquo; he told Fox News on Sunday. He later urged Iran&#39;s security forces and government workers to join the demonstrators. &ldquo;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,&rdquo; he said in a social media post. He also urged protesters to replace the flags outside of Iranian embassies. &ldquo;The time has come for them to be adorned with Iran&#39;s national flag,&rdquo; he said. The ceremonial, pre-revolution flag has become an emblem of the global rallies that have mushroomed in support of Iran&rsquo;s demonstrators. In London, protesters managed over the weekend to swap out the Iranian embassy flag, hoisting in its place the tri-colored banner used under the last Shah.

Middle East

Iran foreign ministry says communications channel is open between Iran and US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, despite the lack of diplomatic relations.

‘Meeting being set up’ with Iran, but we may act first, says Trump

TEHRAN: Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in Iran as people angered by the economic situation in the country kept up their challenge to the authorities and the exiled opposition Thursday urged them to step up their actions. The 12 days of protests have shaken the authorities already battling economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering after the June war against Israel. The movement, which originated with a shutdown on the Tehran bazaar on December 28 after the rial plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger scale demonstrations. Authorities have blamed unrest on &quot;rioters&quot; and the judiciary chief has vowed there would be &quot;no leniency&quot; in bringing them to justice. On Wednesday, an Iranian police officer was stabbed to death near Tehran &quot;during efforts to control unrest&quot;, the Iranian Fars news agency said. Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and a key exiled opposition figure, said that the turnout during Wednesday&#39;s protests had been &quot;unprecedented&quot; and called for major new protests Thursday evening. He said in a message on social media he had received reports the &quot;regime is deeply frightened and is attempting, once again, to cut off the internet&quot; to thwart the protests. The HRANA monitor published a video of protesters in Kuhchenar in the southern Fars province cheering overnight as they pulled down a statue of the former foreign operations commander of the Revolutionary Guards Qassem Soleimani who was killed in a US strike in January 2020 and is hailed as a national hero by the government. HRANA said according to its count protests had taken place in 348 locations over the last 11 days in all of Iran&#39;s 31 provinces. It also published a video of people massing late at night in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and lighting fires in the streets and also images of security forces using tear gas to disperse a protest in the Caspian Sea town of Tonekabon. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said security forces on Wednesday &quot;opened fire on protesters, used tear gas and violently assaulted civilians&quot; during a protest in the key southeastern hub of Kerman. The protests are being characterized by larger-scale demonstrations, with hundreds marching through a main avenue in the northeastern city of Bojnord on Wednesday in a video verified by AFP. Demonstrators are repeating slogans against the Iranian leadership including &quot;this is the final battle, Pahlavi will return&quot; and &quot;Seyyed Ali will be toppled&quot;, in reference to Iran&rsquo;s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. IHR said on Tuesday at least 27 protesters including five teenagers under the age of 18, have been confirmed to have been killed in a crackdown on the protests, warning the death toll will climb as more killings are verified.

The 12 days of protests have shaken the authorities already battling economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering after the June war against Israel.

Articles tagged with "Reza Pahlavi"

‘Meeting being set up’ with Iran, but we may act first, says Trump

Iran protests intensify amid economic crisis and mounting deaths