US tells its citizens to leave Iran, as Trump pressures Tehran over crackdown on protests
The United States is telling its citizens to leave Iran, as Washington continues to pressure Tehran to stop suppressing protesters and US President Donald Trump threatens to attack the Iranian government over the issue.
“Leave Iran now,” the US said in a warning published on the website of its “virtual embassy” in Iran.Have a plan to leave Iran that does not rely on US government assistance.“
For US citizens unable to travel to Iran, the advice is to “find a safe place,” to stock up on food and other essentials and stay aware of their surroundings.
Adding to the threat of military action, Trump late Monday announced that any country doing business with Iran would face a new 25 percent tariff on its US exports.
Although the president gave few details, the move could have more of a symbolic effect than a practical one since Iran, a major oil producer, is already facing US and international trade sanctions.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Kamran Bokhari, executive director at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, says Iran must negotiate as it faces civil unrest across the country and a growing economic situation. He noted that while public statements from Iranian officials may say one thing, ‘the back channels are not silent.’
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on Trump’s announcement. Iran’s top export destinations include China, the United Arab Emirates and India.
Trump warned the leaders of Iran that the United States will attack if the security forces open fire on the protesters. On Sunday, he said the US might meet with Iranian officials and that he was in contact with the Iranian opposition. He is It said it would explore a range of possible actions.
As Iran cracks down on protesters, the diaspora in Canada is holding solidarity rallies to push for regime change, despite differing views on what that change should look like.
Iran’s leaders, whose regional power has been greatly reduced, are facing intense protests that have ranged from complaints about the dire economic crisis to calls for defiance of the collapse of a deeply entrenched clerical establishment.
US-based human rights group HRANA said late Monday it had confirmed the death of 646 people, including 505 protesters, 113 soldiers and security forces and 7 bystanders, and was investigating 579 other reported deaths.
Since the protests started on Dec. 28, 10,721 people have been arrested, said the group.
Reuters could not independently verify the figures.
HRANA said it received reports and videos on Monday at Tehran’s Behesht Zahra cemetery where family members of the victims “gathered at the graves and chanted slogans.”
External Affairs Minister Anita Anand, said in X “Canada stands with the brave people of Iran” and that it joins Australia and the European Union in strongly condemning “repression and in particular the use of violence against peaceful protesters resulting in unnecessary loss of life.”.”
Diplomacy is ‘always the first option’
While airstrikes were one of several options open to Trump, “diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters Monday.
“What you hear publicly from the Iranian government is very different from the messages the administration receives privately, and I think the president is interested in testing those messages,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran is studying the ideas proposed by Washington, although these are “not compatible” with US threats.
Iran has not given an official death toll in the protests. The state-owned media focused on the deaths of security forces.
The flow of information has been hampered by an internet blackout since Thursday, although some Iranians still have access to the Internet via Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system, three people in the country said.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said on Monday it had arrested “terrorist” groups responsible for actions including killing loyal volunteers at a clerical center, burning mosques and attacking military bases, according to a press release.
Addressing a large crowd in Tehran’s Enqelab Square on Monday, parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iranians are fighting on four fronts – “an economic war, a psychological war, a war against the US and Israel, and today a war against terrorism.”
Declaring the situation “completely under control,” Araqchi said Monday that 53 mosques and 180 ambulances had been burned since the protests broke out.
Despite the large scale of the protests, there are no signs of a split in the leadership of the Shia clerics, the military or the security forces, and the protesters have no clear central leadership. The opposition is scattered.
Trump said on Sunday that Iran had called for talks on its controversial nuclear program. Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war in June.
“A meeting is being set up, but we may have to stand up because of what happened before the meeting,” he told reporters on Air Force One.
Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a senior US official told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal reported that that includes military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, increasing sanctions and providing cyber support to anti-government sources.
Military installations may be more dangerous, as some may be located in densely populated areas.
In an interview with CBS News, Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah who lives in exile in the US, urged Trump to intervene “immediately.”
“I think the president has a decision to make soon,” said Pahlavi, who called on Iranians to protest and positioned himself as a reformist leader in the country.
Qalibaf warned Washington of “miscalculation.”
“Let’s be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (of Israel) and all US bases and ships will be our legitimate targets,” he said.
