Iran threatens US and Israel as protests enter third week

By Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg News

Tehran warned the U.S. and Israel against any intervention over nationwide protests in Iran while it sought to placate its citizens, as demonstrations entered their third week and fatalities mounted.

Saturday marked the third night of intensified nationwide demonstrations, following calls by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s former shah, to seize city centers and stage strikes. Since the unrest first began on Dec. 28, Donald Trump has repeatedly warned the Iranian regime not to fire on demonstrators, with the U.S. president receiving a briefing in recent days on new options for military strikes.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group said on Sunday it had confirmed the deaths of at least 192 protesters, including nine individuals under 18. Separately, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said deaths linked to the recent unrest had reached 116, with most killed by live ammunition or pellet gunfire.

On Sunday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a conciliatory tone in a state TV interview, offering condolences to families affected by the “tragic consequences” of the unrest.

“Your protests must be heard, and we must address your concerns. Let’s sit down together, hand in hand, and solve the problems,” he said, without offering details on how that would be done. “I promise the dear people, perhaps 90% of whom have concerns, that we will address their worries. We will get through this crisis.”

Still, Pezeshkian accused the U.S. and Israel of bringing in “terrorists from abroad,” whom he claimed had set mosques and markets on fire, “beheaded some, and burned others alive.” Other officials took an even harder line.

“In the event of a U.S. military attack, both the occupied territories and U.S. military and shipping centers will be legitimate targets for us,” Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in remarks broadcast on state television earlier on Sunday.

He reiterated a warning that Iran could act preemptively against potential threats. “Within the framework of legitimate self-defense, we do not limit ourselves to responding only after an attack,” he said.

Trump has been briefed in recent days on a range of options for military strikes in Iran, including nonmilitary sites, a White House official said, confirming an earlier New York Times report. The U.S. president is seriously considering authorizing an attack, according to the official.

Israel’s Army Radio reported Sunday that the country’s security establishment views it as unlikely that Iran will attack Israel at this stage. “No such immediate willingness is identified in Israel — but rather an Iranian focus on internal matters,” it said, citing unidentified defense officials.

Footage from Iranian cities suggests that hundreds of thousands, including many elderly, are defying stern warnings from authorities to stay off the streets, despite a nationwide internet blackout and severe telecommunications restrictions that have blocked calls and text messages since Thursday.

The NetBlocks internet‑monitoring group said in a posting on X early Sunday that internet connectivity in Iran “continues to flatline around 1% of ordinary levels.”

Still, multiple social media videos, reportedly from a warehouse in southern Tehran, show people searching through dozens of corpses in body bags, lined up on the ground and on stretchers. Wailing can be heard as individuals bend over the bags, trying to identify their loved ones.

A video published later on Sunday by the state-run IRIB News appeared to show scenes from the same warehouse — one of the first glimpses by official media into the scale of the fatalities. In the video, a reporter described the site as a complex of the state forensic organization in Tehran, with dozens of bodies inside a large indoor facility. Outside, dozens of people are seen huddling around ambulances and the back of what appears to be a refrigerated truck, searching for their relatives.

Protests erupted last month among pockets of traders in Tehran over worsening economic and living conditions but have since grown into the largest anti-regime demonstrations to grip the country since 2022, when the death in custody of Mahsa Amini triggered nationwide anger and mass protests.

Other videos, reportedly from west of Tehran on Saturday night, show thousands of protesters packed into the streets, waving phone flashlights in the dark as city lights remain shut down, amid whistles and chants of “Death to the dictator.” A truck was seen on fire in Mashhad, while footage purportedly from Sunday shows a state tax administration building burned out overnight in eastern Tehran. Bloomberg couldn’t independently verify any of the footage.

In an X post on Sunday, Pahlavi urged protesters to continue their demonstrations through the weekend. He described Trump as “the leader of the free world” who is observing the unrest and “is ready to help you.”

Late on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. and Israel of fueling violent unrest and warned against any action directed at Tehran.

“The only ‘delusional’ aspect of the current situation is the belief that arson does not ultimately burn the arsonists,” Araghchi said.

Alongside those killed, another 2,638 people had been detained, the Human Rights Activists organization said. Some of those killed included medical personnel, and seven of the victims were under 18, it added.

Iran’s prosecutor general warned on Saturday of swift trials and death penalty charges against detainees, a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the security apparatus won’t tolerate “vandalism” or “people acting as mercenaries for foreign powers.”

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(With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer, Patrick Sykes and Courtney Subramanian.)

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