Iran Says Situation Contained After Unrest as Trump Raises Prospect of Talks
The situation in Iran is “under total control” after violence linked to protests spiked over the weekend, the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday via English translation.
Araqchi added that U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning against Tehran of action should protests turn bloody motivated “terrorists” to target protesters and security forces in order to invite foreign intervention.
Accordingly, Iranian authorities called for a nationwide rally on Monday to condemn “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel,” state media reported.
Talks vs. Force
President Donald Trump said the U.S. may meet Iranian officials, while he weighed a range of strong responses including military options.
“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,” he said.
On Saturday, the Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi visited Tehran, and highlighted “Muscat’s efforts to keep the channels of consultations among countries open in order to meet challenges,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Oman, which hosted several rounds of US-Iran nuclear talks that were derailed by the 12-day war in June, urged the countries to go back to the negotiating table.
“We want to return to the negotiations between Iran (and) the United States,” Albusaidi said during a panel at the IISS Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.
Responding to a question about contact with President Trump, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said communication lines between Tehran and Washington remain open, such as through a U.S. special envoy or traditional intermediaries such as Switzerland.
In the meantime, Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or “Israel”, The Associated Press reported, citing two people familiar with internal White House discussions, but were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Iran through country’s parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and “Israel” would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
The demonstrations began on Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions.
