Iran is keeping lines of communication with the United States open and is ready for either “war” or dialogue, its foreign minister said Monday, as President Donald Trump weighs responses — including military options — amid reports from rights groups that hundreds of people have been killed across the country amid mass protests against the regime.
“We are not warmongers, but we are prepared for war. … We are also prepared for negotiations, but fair negotiations, with equal rights and mutual respect,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a gathering of ambassadors in Iran on Monday.
Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday night that Iran had contacted the U.S. to propose talks, but added: “We may have to act before a meeting. … A meeting is being set up.” He declined to elaborate on the options the U.S. was considering on Iran.
Trump said he believed Iran was taking U.S. threats seriously. “They’ve been going through it for years with me,” he said in response to a question, noting the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Trump’s first term and the recent U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it received eyewitness accounts and credible reports that hundreds of protesters have been killed since Thursday night, while another U.S.-based group, Human Rights Activists News Agency, estimates 490 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began on Dec. 28.
Though Iranian officials had expressed, after the 12-day Israeli war in June, that they would be open to returning to talks, they had also rejected what they called “maximalist demands” by the Trump administration, and so negotiations remained frozen.
“The communication channel between our Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the U.S. special envoy [Steve Witkoff] is open and messages are exchanged whenever necessary,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said during a news conference Monday, Reuters reported. The traditional U.S.-Iran diplomatic channel through Switzerland also remains open, he said.
Araghchi also met Saturday with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, who traveled to Tehran for talks and who has acted as a go-between for Tehran and Washington in the past.
Iranian authorities, who have shut down internet access, are struggling to contain some of the largest protests since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. Protests that erupted over economic grievances have evolved into calls for regime change, and demonstrations have grown increasingly violent.
According to a senior Western official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, Iranian authorities initially appeared reluctant to use lethal force but changed course once the protests threatened the regime.
Trump told reporters Sunday night that he was getting hourly reports on the crackdown on protests. “We’re looking at it very seriously. The military’s looking at it. And we’re looking at some very strong options,” he added.
On Monday, Araghchi reiterated the government’s favored narrative about the protest violence — that it was being committed by “terrorists” and not security forces. “A large number of the people who have unfortunately died in these incidents have been shot in the back by these people,” he said.
“State narratives portraying protesters as terrorists and agents of civil war are clearly directed at ideologically committed segments of society, encouraging participation in repression,” Hamidreza Azizi, an expert on Iranian security policy, wrote on Substack.
Iranians have endured years of soaring inflation, weak economic growth and international isolation, driven by mismanagement, corruption and sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The situation worsened late last year as the Iranian currency fell to record lows, sparking initial protests by shop owners in Tehran in late December and later spreading among students, workers and others across the country.
Susannah George contributed to this report.
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