At least 544 killed in Iran protests, activists say, as Trump says Tehran has proposed negotiations
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with 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.
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its deadly crackdown on protesters.“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.He added, “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”There was no immediate acknowledgement from Iran of the offering for a meeting.Trump's comments come as activists said the death toll rose to at least 544, and he had earlier threatened to intervene militarily should Iranian authorities continue their deadly crackdown on protesters.Iran has vowed retaliation should Washington intervene militarily over the protests.Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation on Sunday, Trump said, “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” the US president said.According to Trump, his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but he cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.Analysts, however, believe the massive ongoing US military deployment to the Caribbean is a factor that the Pentagon and Trump’s national security planners must consider should Washington decide to intervene in Iran.More than 10,600 people have also been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.Defiance in parliamentThe threat to strike the US military and Israel came during a parliamentary speech by Mohammad Baagher Qalibaf, the hardliner speaker of the body who has run for the presidency in the past.He directly threatened Israel, calling it “the occupied territory.”“In the event of an attack on Iran, both 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 defenses 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.Iran targeted U.S. forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June, while the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet is stationed in the island kingdom of Bahrain.