Trump says the US military is considering “very strong options” for Iran

• Trump will meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options on Iran.
• The Iranian government declared three days of national mourning for the “martyrs”.
• Iran warns it will strike US military and naval targets if attacked.
  

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was considering possible military action against Iran, amid growing reports of a deadly crackdown on the country’s massive anti-government protests.

“They’re starting, it seems,” Trump said, when asked by reporters on Air Force One whether Iran had crossed the previously declared red line of protesters killed.

“We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’re going to make a determination,” he said.

He also said Iran’s leadership had called to seek “negotiations” following its threats of military action amid mass anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic.

“The leaders of Iran called” yesterday, Trump said, adding that “a meeting is taking place … They want to negotiate.”

However, Trump added that “maybe we have to act before a meeting.”

Trump will meet with senior advisers

Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options on Iran, a US official said Reuters on Sunday.

THE Wall Street Journal had said options include military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, expanding sanctions and providing online assistance to anti-government sources.

Earlier, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bakr Qalibaf, warned Washington of a “miscalculation”.

“Let’s be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (of Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian president calls for ‘national march of resistance’

Iran’s government has declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs,” including members of the security forces killed in two weeks of protests, state television reported Sunday.

The government described the fight against what it called “riots” as “Iran’s national resistance battle against America and the Zionist regime,” using the clerical leadership’s term for Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognize.

President Massoud Pezeskian urged people to join a “national resistance march” of nationwide rallies Monday to denounce the violence, which the government said was perpetrated by “terrorist urban criminals,” state television reported.

The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have evolved into a movement against the theocratic system that has been in place in Iran since the 1979 revolution. They have already lasted two weeks.

The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, since Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June, which was backed by the United States.

Protests have swelled in recent days despite an internet blackout that lasted more than 72 hours, according to the Netblocks monitor. Activists have warned that the closure restricts the flow of information and that the real toll risks being much higher.