More than 500 protesters of the Islamic regime are estimated to have been killed in Tehran’s violent crackdown in recent days, and Iran vowed Sunday to strike U.S. bases in the region and targets in Israel if President Trump attempts to intervene with military action.
More than 10,600 people have been detained over two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which tracks rights violations in the Islamic republic. Hospital staff in Tehran have reported morgue facilities overwhelmed with bodies and a flood of injured patients, including “direct shots to the head,” the BBC said.
Mr. Trump’s military team has given the president options for potential attacks on Iran, multiple reports say.
The president told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday evening that Iran had reached out to the U.S. and proposed negotiations after his threats over the crackdown.
He said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act anyway as the casualties and arrests mount.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” he said, adding “Iran wants to negotiate.”
The leader of Iran’s parliament said Sunday that the U.S. and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Mr. Trump carries out further attacks. In June, the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.
On an Iranian television broadcast, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of the parliament since 2020, applauded the regime’s bloody crackdown on protesters and alluded to possible preemptive strikes on U.S. assets.
“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory [Israel] and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Mr. Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”
Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday” that although he “stands with the Iranian people,” he isn’t ready to commit to action in Iran.
“You know, I’m against the bad guys around the world, but I’m not sure that America trying to be the policeman for the whole world is why Americans hired Donald Trump to be president,” Mr. Warner said.
The unverified death toll of protesters is up to at least 538 people, according to The Associated Press, but could be much higher. The regime has cut phone and internet connections to the outside world.
In the United States, dissidents who have fled Iran say the protests pose an existential threat to the theocratic regime.
“The intensity of the protest is very different,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh, the U.S. deputy director for the National Council of Resistance of Iran. He added that the scale and momentum are unprecedented in the history of the Islamic republic.
“The chants make it very clear that this is not about small reform; it’s about ending dictatorship,” Mr. Jafarzadeh told The Washington Times. “Their proxies in the region have largely been shattered. The whole infrastructure of the society … is not functional … so people are fed up.”
Mr. Jafarzadeh’s organization is one of the world’s most prominent Iranian dissident organizations, having garnered significant support from U.S. diplomats and politicians over the years. It has loudly argued for the creation of a democratic and non-nuclear Iran. In Tehran, the National Council of Resistance of Iran is categorized as a terrorist organization.
Iran’s Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Iranian shah, is joining the voices against the Islamic regime. Mr. Pahlavi called for protests around the world Thursday, urging people to hoist the pre-1979 lion and sun symbol flag, which was used during his father’s rule.
Mr. Pahlavi’s calls for protest were rebroadcast by Farsi-speaking news channels and websites around the world. Mr. Pahlavi’s fate has followed that of Mr. Trump’s, as his profile also rose during the first Trump term.
The Iranian regime has refused to acknowledge Mr. Pahlavi’s claimed title of crown prince and calls him a “monarchist terrorist.” After his father’s death, a royal court in exile announced that Mr. Pahlavi assumed the role of the shah on Oct. 31, 1980, his 20th birthday.
His father’s monarchy was ousted in the 1970s as millions across Iran participated in protests of the Muslim clergy.
His refuge in the U.S. was connected to the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Protests in the streets overwhelmed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 66 Americans, including diplomats, civilians and families, were taken hostage and held for more than a year.
Analysts estimate that the protests have spread to all 31 provinces of Iran.
“You have the three sectors of society who are revolting. Bazaari, the poor, intellectuals and the students. This is very unique,” Mr. Jafarzadeh said. “You would not see the continuation of these protests without these elements of the resistance on the ground.”
Mr. Trump and his Cabinet have reinforced his position in recent days that the U.S. will support democracy protests in Iran and elsewhere. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said online early Saturday that “the United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
Mr. Trump reportedly has been given plans for a military strike on Iran, said unidentified sources cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” Mr. Trump said Saturday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Also Saturday, a protester in London stripped the regime’s flag from the Iranian Embassy and hoisted the pre-Islamic Revolution lion and sun flag. Mr. Trump posted an article highlighting the action.
Iranian Embassy staff later posted a picture showing them replacing the flag.
Tehran’s weakened international position may have exacerbated the protests. Iran’s economic woes can be blamed in part on international sanctions imposed last year after European powers found that Iran had not done enough to find a diplomatic solution to its nuclear program.
That program was nearly devastated in a 12-day war with Israel and the U.S. in June. Scores of Iranian nuclear scientists were killed, and top enrichment facilities were bombed.
Iran lost two major allies with the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria in December 2024 and the arrest this month of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Tehran has not backed down. Iran’s supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Friday that Mr. Trump should worry about “his own country” while downplaying the grievances of protesters.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
• John T. Seward can be reached at jseward@washingtontimes.com.
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