Neil Hall/EPA
A man waves a pre-revolutionary Iranian flag from inside a car as protesters take part in a protest in support of the current protest movement in Iran, in London
The internet shutdown decided on Thursday by Iranian authorities, due to protests against the Government, remains in force. Iran’s head of diplomacy says today that the protests became violent and bloody “to give Trump an excuse to intervene.
Os Anti-government protests continue in Iran. No one knows for sure how many people have died.
According to Netblocks, a non-governmental organization (NGO) monitoring cybersecurity, the country has been without Internet for almost 90 hours.
On Thursday, authorities cut the Internet and cell phone signals across the country, following a large demonstration in Tehran and after videos were published on social media showing a crowd in protest.
Donald Trump also indicated that he plans to call Elon Musk to discuss the positioning Starlink satellites to “keep the internet working” in Iran.
“Sorry” for Trump
Iran’s head of diplomacy, Abbas Araghchisaid this Monday that the Nationwide protests “turned violent and bloody to provide an excuse” for U.S. military intervention.
The Iranian Foreign Minister’s allegation emerged at a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran and was cited by the Qatari-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera, which has permission to operate despite the internet shutdown in Iran.
Araghchi did not present evidence to support this allegation, but assured that “the situation is under total control” across the country, at a time when activists guarantee that at least 544 people were killed — the vast majority of protesters.
Trump says Iran “wants to negotiate”
The US President stated that Iran’s leaders contacted him to negotiate after Donald Trump threatened military actionat a time when the Islamic Republic is facing anti-government protests.
“Iranian leaders called” on SaturdayTrump told journalists aboard the presidential plane on Sunday, adding that “a meeting is being planned”
“They want to negotiate”added the Republican.
Trump said he is receiving hourly updates on the protests and that the administration he leads “will make a decision.” Trump warned, however: “we may have to act before a meeting”.
The US military was considering “very strong options” regarding Iran, amid growing fears of a violent crackdown on the protest movement in the country.
Iran is “crossing the line”
The US President believes that the Iranian Government “is starting” to cross a line, because “People died who shouldn’t have died”something he attributed to Tehran’s “reign of violence”.
“Some protesters were trampled to death; there were many. And some were shot,” he said.
The Republican said he believes Iran takes its threats seriously after “years” of dealing with the country, citing the deaths of the general of the Revolutionary Guard Qassem Soleimaniby the leader of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and “a diminishing Iranian nuclear threat“.
On Sunday, the speaker of Iran’s parliament warned that the North’s militaryAmericans and Israel will be “legitimate targets” case of attack by Washington.
The comments of Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf They represent the first time that Israel has been included on the list of possible targets for an Iranian attack.
Qalibaf, a hard-liner, made the threat as deputies stormed the Iranian parliament’s rostrum, shouting: “Death to America!”
Donald Trump downplayed possible Iranian attacks on US bases: “If they do, we will attack them at levels never seen before”.
