- Trump will meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss Iranian options.
- The Iranian government declares three days of national mourning for the “martyrs”.
- Iran warns it will strike US military and maritime targets if attacked.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was considering possible military action against Iran, as mass anti-government protests grow in the country.
“It looks like they’re starting to do it,” Trump said, when asked by reporters aboard Air Force One whether Iran had crossed the previously declared red line of killed protesters.
“We are looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it and we are looking at very solid options. We will make a decision,” he said.
He also said Iranian leaders had called for seeking “negotiations” after his threats of military action.
“Iranian leaders called” yesterday, Trump said, adding that “a meeting is being set up… They want to negotiate.”
However, Trump added that “we may have to act before a meeting.”
Trump will meet with his top advisers
Trump was scheduled to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a U.S. official said. Reuters on Sunday.
THE Wall Street Journal had indicated that options included military strikes, the use of covert cyber weapons, expanding sanctions and providing online assistance to anti-government sources.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, warned Washington against “a miscalculation”.
“Let us be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all American bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Iranian president calls for ‘national resistance march’
The Iranian government has declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs”, including members of the security forces killed during two weeks of protests, state television reported on Sunday.
The government described the fight against what it called “the riots” as a “battle of Iranian national resistance against America and the Zionist regime,” using the term used by religious leaders for Israel, which the Islamic republic does not recognize.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday urged people to take part in a “national resistance march” consisting of nationwide rallies to denounce the violence, which the government said was carried out by “urban terrorist criminals”, state television reported.
Protests have increased in recent days despite an Internet shutdown that lasted more than 72 hours, according to monitor Netblocks. Activists warned that the shutdown limited the flow of information and that the real toll was likely to be much higher.
Meanwhile, unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, a rights group said on Sunday.
According to its latest figures, from activists inside and outside Iran and abroad, the US-based human rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, and more than 10,600 people arrested during two weeks of unrest.
Iran has not given an official assessment and Reuters could not independently verify the counts.
