Trump, Iran trade threats as protest deaths rise

Protesters in Tehran take to the streets

(Image credit: MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran surpassed 500 on Sunday, with at least 503 protesters and 48 security personnel killed since the demonstrations broke out Dec. 28, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. More than 10,600 people have been detained. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Monday morning that “the situation has come under total control” after the protests “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for President Donald Trump to intervene.

Who said what

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday night that Iran was “starting to” cross the red line he drew of not killing protesters. “The leaders of Iran called” on Saturday “to negotiate,” he said, and a “meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting.” Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf said Sunday that if the U.S. “takes military action,” its military bases and “shipping lanes will be our legitimate targets.”

An internet and phone blackout has made it difficult to assess the situation in Iran, but authenticated footage seeping out shows mass protests, violent crackdowns and rows of body bags. “Things here are very, very bad,” a source in Tehran told the BBC Sunday. “They were firing live rounds. It’s like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They’re taking away bodies in trucks.”

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What next?

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters. He is scheduled to meet with senior administration officials on Monday to discuss the options, “which could include boosting antigovernment sources online, deploying secretive cyber weapons,” military strikes and new sanctions, The Wall Street Journal said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.