Iran Threatens U.S. Troops Amid Protests, Escalates Warnings
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Nationwide unrest challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country's capital and its second-largest city saturday night and into Sunday...
- With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more arduous.
- Faced with its most significant challenge in years, Iran's theocratic rulers have issued increasingly stern threats to what it claims are agitators being influenced by the U.S.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Nationwide unrest challenging Iran’s theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city saturday night and into Sunday morning, crossing the two-week mark as an outside monitoring group said at least 116 people had been killed.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more arduous. But according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network of contacts inside the country, the death toll from clashes between protesters and Iran’s security forces has climbed steadily, and more than 2,600 others have been detained over the last two weeks.
Faced with its most significant challenge in years, Iran’s theocratic rulers have issued increasingly stern threats to what it claims are agitators being influenced by the U.S. and Israel – and answered threats of a U.S. intervention by President Trump with corresponding threats of their own.
Iran’s parliament speaker warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic, as threatened by president trump. Qalibaf made the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”
Those abroad fear the data blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from Mr. Trump that he’s willing to strike the Islamic Republic if demonstrators are killed.
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On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
“I’m sure that has really scared many Iranian officials and may have affected their actions in terms of how to confront the protestors, but simultaneously occurring, it has inspired many protesters to come out as they know that the leader of the world’s main superpower is supporting their cause,” Maziar Bahari, the editor of the IranWire news website told CBS News.
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In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, some 450 miles northeast of Tehran, video purported to show protesters confronting security forces. Flaming debris and dumpsters could be seen in the street, blocking the road. Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest in Shiite Islam, making the protests there carry heavy significance for the country’s theocracy.
Protests also appeared to happen in Kerman, 500 miles southeast of Tehran.
Iranian state television on Sunday morning took a page from demonstrators,having their correspondents appear on streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included. They also showed pro-government demonstrations in Qom and Qazvin.
Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.
Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish.Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.
Iran’s exiled Crown P