Iran says communications open with US, Trump weighs response to crackdown on protests
Written by: Jana Choukeir, Nayera Abdallah and Tala Ramazan
DUBAI, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday it was keeping communication open with the United States as President Donald Trump assesses reactions to a violent crackdown on protests that pose one of the biggest challenges to religious rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump said on Sunday that the United States may meet with Iranian officials and is in contact with the opposition, while he is putting pressure on leaders of the Islamic Republic, including threatening possible military action in response to violence against protesters.
Iran has weathered past waves of protests with repression similar to the current bloody crackdown. But this time the leadership is facing nationwide demonstrations that have turned from complaints about severe economic difficulties to defiant calls for the destruction of the religious institution, and its regional influence has been greatly diminished.
“The communication channel between our Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and the US special envoy (Steve Witkoff) is open and messages are exchanged when necessary,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Monday. he said.
He also stated that contacts remain open through the traditional intermediary, Switzerland.
“(The US) touched on some issues, put forward ideas, and in general (…) the Islamic Republic is a country that never leaves the negotiating table”. However, he added that the “contradictory messages” coming from the US lack seriousness and are not convincing.
In his briefing to foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Araqchi reiterated that the Islamic Republic is ready for war but also open to dialogue.
RIGHTS GROUP SAYS MORE THAN 500 WERE KILLED
US-based human rights group HRANA said it had confirmed the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel and the arrest of more than 10,600 people since the protests began on December 28.
Iran did not provide an official toll and Reuters could not independently verify the figures. The flow of information from Iran has been disrupted due to an internet outage since Thursday.
Trump said Sunday he called for talks on Iran’s nuclear program. Israel and the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in a 12-day war in June.
“Iran wants to negotiate, yes. We can meet with them. A meeting is being arranged, but we may have to take action because of what’s going on before the meeting, but a meeting is being arranged. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump will meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a US official told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal reported that the options include military strikes, the use of secret cyber weapons, expanding sanctions and providing online assistance to anti-government sources.
Attacking military installations can be quite risky. Some bases of elite military and security forces may be located in densely populated areas, so any strikes ordered by Trump could result in major civilian casualties.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Qalibaf warned Washington against “miscalculation”.
“Let’s be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel), as well as all US bases and ships, will be our legitimate targets,” said Qalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.
But Tehran is still trying to recover from last year’s war, and its regional influence has been considerably weakened by crackdowns on allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also killed Iran’s top military commanders in the June war.
ARAQCHI: SITUATION ‘TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL’
Iranian officials accused the United States and Israel of causing trouble and called for a nationwide rally on Monday to condemn “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel,” state media reported.
State television on Monday broadcast live footage of large crowds attending a funeral for slain security forces in Shahrud and pro-government demonstrations “to condemn recent terrorist incidents” in cities such as Kerman, Zahedan and Birjand.
Araqchi said the situation in Iran was “completely under control” after protest-related violence escalated over the weekend. He said Trump’s warning to take action against Tehran if the protests turned bloody motivated those he called terrorists to target protesters and security forces in an attempt to invite foreign intervention.
The protests began in response to rising prices before turning against religious rulers who have been in power for more than 45 years.
Iranians have grown increasingly angry at the powerful Revolutionary Guard, whose business interests in oil and gas, construction and telecommunications are worth billions of dollars.
Footage posted on social media from Tehran on Saturday showed large crowds marching, applauding and chanting slogans at night. One man was heard saying that the crowd “has neither end nor beginning.”
Trump said Sunday that he would meet with Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran via the Starlink satellite service.
Araqchi said internet service would be restarted in coordination with security authorities.
Authorities declared three days of national mourning on Sunday “in memory of the martyrs killed in the resistance against the United States and the Zionist regime,” according to state media.
Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran expert, thought the protests were unlikely to topple the establishment.
“I think it will eventually suppress these protests, but it will come out of the process much weaker,” he told Reuters, adding that Iran’s elite still appeared to be cohesive and there was no organized opposition.
(Additional reporting by Elwely Elwelly in Dubai. Rami Ayyub, Maayan Lubell and Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem, Steve Holland in WashingtonVideo verification by Mahezabin Syed, Eleanor Whalley and Marine Delrue Written by Michael GeorgyQuran: Lincoln Feast by Michael Perry and Frances Kerry)
