WASHINGTON, Jan 12 — US President Donald Trump said Iran’s leadership had contacted him to seek negotiations, as protests across the country entered a second week amid a violent crackdown that rights groups say has killed scores of demonstrators.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said “the leaders of Iran called” and that “a meeting is being set up”, while warning that Washington “may have to act before a meeting”.
According to AFP, Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests initially sparked by rising living costs, which have since evolved into a broader challenge to the theocratic system in place since the 1979 revolution.
Despite a prolonged internet shutdown, information has continued to emerge, with videos and eyewitness accounts indicating large demonstrations in Tehran and other cities.
Rights groups said the death toll is rising. The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it had received credible reports suggesting hundreds of protesters may have been killed during the crackdown, while Norway-based Iran Human Rights said it had confirmed at least 192 deaths and warned the actual figure could be far higher.
Iran Human Rights also estimated that more than 2,600 people have been arrested.
AFP reported that daily life in Tehran has been severely disrupted, with many shops closed and security forces heavily deployed, even as state media sought to project a return to calm.
Iranian authorities have rejected foreign pressure, with parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warning that US military assets and shipping would be considered “legitimate targets” if Washington intervenes.
The protests represent one of the most serious challenges in years to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, coming months after heightened regional tensions following Israel’s war with Iran in June. — AFP
Trump says Iran ‘want to negotiate’ after reports of hundreds killed in protests
