10,600 detained, death toll likely to rise, activists warn

Activists say over 500 killed in crackdown on Iran protests as Trump weighs steps

US military reportedly says it needs more time to prepare for a strike; Netanyahu, IDF chief hold security talks after Iranian leaders blame Israel for chaos

US President Donald Trump will be briefed by senior officials in his administration later this week on possible responses to the deadly violence in Iran, where hundreds of protesters have reportedly been killed and thousands more detained over the past two weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing US officials.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to retaliate against Iran’s leaders if protesters are killed, and on Saturday said that the US was “ready to help” Iranians achieve freedom.

The protests in Iran, now in their 15th day, began as economic demonstrations but escalated rapidly into calls for the collapse of the Islamic Republic and regime change. Tehran has responded forcefully to the demonstrations, and activists said on Sunday that at least 538 people had been killed since December 28.

The US president’s meeting, planned for Tuesday, will be a discussion about possible next steps, including military strikes, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on Iran’s government and boosting anti-government sources online, the Journal reported.

The New York Times and the Journal reported Saturday that Trump had been presented with military options for a strike, but hadn’t made a final decision.

Even if the US does choose to proceed with military action, the UK’s Sunday Times suggested that this would not happen in the immediate future.

According to the newspaper, the US military has informed Trump that it is not yet ready to launch strikes and needs more time to prepare. Officials in the Middle East have communicated that they need additional time to bolster both personnel and defenses in the region before they can proceed with strikes, the report said.

The Qatari Al Araby Television Network reported, however, that Israel believes the US will strike Iran sooner rather than later.

As Washington weighs its options, Tehran has continued to pin blame on Israel and the US for the unrelenting protests, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accusing the two countries of trying to “sow chaos and disorder” in the Islamic Republic.

“Protesting is the people’s right,” he said in an interview with state TV on Sunday, while warning that protesters “should not be allowed to disrupt society.”

“The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB. “If people have a concern we will hear them, it is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is not to allow rioters to come and disrupt society.”

He accused Israel and the US of “trying to escalate this unrest with regard to the economic discussion and solutions we are working on.”

“They have taken some people here inside and abroad and trained them. They brought terrorists in from abroad into the country,” he claimed.

Against the backdrop of Pezeshkian’s warnings about “rioters,” the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that more than 10,600 people across Iran had been detained.

It said that 490 protesters had been killed, in addition to 48 members of Iran’s security forces, and warned that the death toll was likely to continue to rise.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult.

The activist group, which relies on activists in Iran crosschecking information, has offered accurate tolls in previous rounds of unrest in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian government has not offered any overall casualty figures for the demonstrations, but has praised security forces for their actions against protesters.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned Sunday that the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if the US were to strike Iran. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments during an address in parliament, which was broadcast live on state television.

Qalibaf, a hard-liner who has run for the presidency in the past, focused his speech on applauding police and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, particularly its all-volunteer Basij, for having “stood firm” during the protests.

He went on to directly threaten Israel, “the occupied territory” as he referred to it, and the US military, possibly with a preemptive strike.

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”

Lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”

In the wake of his comments and similar sentiments expressed by other Iranian officials, Israel was preparing for the possibility that it may be on the receiving end of Tehran’s wrath.

To that end, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held situational assessments over the weekend focused on the Iranian protests, The Times of Israel has learned.

Separately, Netanyahu called top advisers and ministers together for a security consultation on Sunday afternoon, the offices of two of the attendees told The Times of Israel. The full security cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.

The premier addressed the situation during the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, expressing hope that Israel and Iran could become “faithful partners” again when the regime falls.

“We are sending strength to the heroic and courageous citizens of Iran — and once the regime falls, we will do good things together for the benefit of both peoples,” he said.

“We all hope that the Persian nation will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny,” Netanyahu continued. “And when that day arrives, Israel and Iran will once again become faithful partners in building a future of prosperity and peace.”

Israel and Iran enjoyed warm ties from the time of Israel’s founding in 1948 up until the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the ousting of the Iranian shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Pahlavi’s son, the exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, has successfully spurred on the protests in Iran from his home in the US, issuing calls for Iranians to take to the streets each night. On Sunday, he said he was prepared to return to his homeland and lead a transition to a democratic government.

“I’m prepared to return to Iran at the first possible opportunity. I’m already planning on that,” Pahlavi said on Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo.

Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear if that is in support for Pahlavi himself, or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Pahlavi’s apparent commitment to bringing democracy to his homeland, from which he has been in exile for more than 50 years, would suggest he is not interested in returning to the pre-revolution status quo, when his father ruled with an iron fist following a US-backed coup in 1953.

“My job is to lead this transition to make sure that no stone is left unturned, that in full transparency, people have an opportunity to elect their leaders freely and to decide,” he said.