Iran foreign minister claims protest unrest has ‘come under total control’ | Iran

Iran’s foreign minister has claimed that the situation in the country is “completely under control” as authorities implement a brutal crackdown against the nationwide protest movement.

Abbas Araghchi made these comments without providing evidence to foreign diplomats in Tehran.

Several messages and videos that emerged from Iran overnight showed that protests were continuing, but the ongoing internet blackout made it difficult to judge whether the authorities’ use of violence was effective in blunting the movement’s momentum.

The protests, which are in their 16th day, began when merchants in Tehran took to the streets to protest the sudden devaluation of the national currency. Protesters calling for the overthrow of the Iranian regime turned into demonstrations across the country, triggering a harsh response from the authorities.

Iran has repelled previous rounds of mass unrest through the use of force, particularly in 2009 and 2019. The next few days are seen as a demonstration of the current protest movement’s staying power in the face of an increasingly deadly backlash.

The foreign minister claimed Western powers were turning peaceful protests “violent and bloody” to create a pretext for military intervention. Iranian officials have accused Israel and the United States of supporting the protests and using them to try to destabilize the country, despite the apparent broad participation of ordinary Iranians in the protest movement.

Iranian state television broadcast footage on Monday of tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators arriving to show support for the regime after the country’s president called for a “national resistance march”. The crowd chanted “Death to America.” and marched against anti-government protests.

Germany and Canada called on authorities on Monday to halt their crackdown on Iranians, as the government’s crackdown sparked a wave of condemnation from the international community.

Hours before Araghchi’s statement, Donald Trump claimed that Iran had reached out and offered talks, even though he thought it was planning a “very strong” military action against the regime due to the intense crackdown that has left hundreds dead.

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

He added that despite Iran’s request for talks, “we may have to take action because of what happened before the meeting,” citing the intensity of the government’s crackdown on protesters. “We are looking at this very seriously,” the US president said. “The military is looking at this, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll come to a decision.”

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said channels were open for talks with the United States, but they should be based on “mutual interests and concerns.”

Trump has previously threatened to intervene in Iran if the government kills protesters; The threat was called after rights groups said hundreds of Iranian protesters were killed last week.

What little information leaked from Iran during the internet blackout (now in its fourth day) indicated that the use of force against protesters was continuing and the death toll was rising.

“After a while, gunfire started in the dark and people were hit by bullets. There were no security forces on the streets. Based on our observations, we suspect that the shots were fired either from drones in the sky or directly from the rooftops,” said a protester in Tehran’s Punak district.

They added that authorities cut off the electricity before shooting at protesters, thus plunging the crowd into darkness before bullets flew.

A. video News circulating over the weekend showed dozens of bodies in a warehouse in Tehran’s Kahrizak district. Human rights group Hengaw said the warehouse was being used as an overflow facility for an overcrowded morgue.

In the footage, families are seen gathering around a wide-screen television showing the faces of the dead in the morgue, hoping to learn the fate of their loved ones who went out to protest but did not return.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 544 people were killed during the demonstrations, including 483 protesters and 47 security forces, and more than 10,681 protesters were arrested. The organization warned that the death toll will continue to rise, noting that 579 additional reports of people killed have now been confirmed. The regime did not provide its own figures and it was not possible to verify them independently.

Iranian authorities attempted to suppress the protests in a rather public show of force within Iran by imposing harsh penalties on those they perceived to be participating in the demonstrations.

Human rights groups have warned that at least 96 cases of coerced confessions were published in state media, which were then frequently used to carry out death sentences.

The protester, 26-year-old Irfan Soltani, has been sentenced to death and his execution is scheduled for Wednesday, human rights group Hengaw said, citing his family. Soltani will be the first protester executed by authorities since the start of the protest movement.

The brutal crackdown has raised the possibility of US intervention, with Trump saying he would “save” the Iranian government if it killed protesters. He repeated his threat to intervene on Saturday night. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM perhaps like never before. USA is ready to help!!!” He said on Truth Social.

In response, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Galibaf warned Washington against “miscalculation”, saying Israel and US interests in the Middle East would become targets.

Galibaf, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, said, “Let’s be clear: In case of an attack on Iran, all US bases and ships, as well as the occupied territories, will be our legitimate targets.”

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, called on Iranian security forces and government workers on Sunday to join the growing protest movement. “Employees of state institutions, as well as members of the armed forces and security forces, have a choice: to stand with the people and become allies of the nation, or to choose to be complicit with the murderers of the people,” Pahlavi said on social media.

Protesters increasingly rallied around Pahlavi as an opposition figure to the regime, while demonstrators chanted slogans in support of his family dynasty. He claimed that thousands of members of Iran’s security forces had signaled their intention to defect through an online platform he created and that he would issue further instructions in due course.

Thousands of Iranians demonstrated around the world over the weekend in support of protesters inside the country.