Trump says US ‘armada’ is approaching Iran as regime attack continues – National
Iran’s top prosecutor on Friday called repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he had halted the hanging of 800 protesters jailed there “absolutely false.” Meanwhile, the death toll from the bloodshed in protests across the country has risen to at least 5,032, activists said.
Activists fear that many have died. They are struggling to confirm information as the most widespread internet blackout in Iran’s history has crossed two weeks.
Tensions remain high between the United States and Iran as a US aircraft carrier group approaches the Middle East, something Trump likened to an “armada” in remarks to reporters late Thursday.
Analysts say the military build-up could give Trump the option to launch strikes, although he has so far refrained from doing so despite repeated warnings from Tehran. The mass killing of prisoners was one of his military red lines – another killing of peaceful protesters.
“Although President Trump now seems to have backed down, perhaps under pressure from regional leaders and realizing that airstrikes alone will not be enough to contain the regime, military assets continue to be moved into the region, indicating that kinetic action is still possible,” said the New York-based think tank Soufan Center in an analysis on Friday.
The prosecutor denies Trump’s claim
Trump has repeatedly said that Iran has stopped the execution of 800 people who were arrested in these protests, without explaining in detail the origin of the claim. On Friday, Iran’s chief prosecutor Mohammad Movahedi denied that in a statement carried by the Mizan judiciary news agency.
“This claim is completely false; there is no such amount, and the law enforcement has not made any such decision,” said Movahedi.
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His comments suggest that Iran’s Foreign Ministry, headed by Abbas Araghchi, may have provided the figure to Trump. Araghchi had a direct line with US ambassador Steve Witkoff and held many discussions about Iran’s nuclear program with him.
“We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not take, under any circumstances, instructions from foreign countries,” said Movahedi.
Justice officials have called some of those detained “mohareb” – or “enemies of God.” That crime carries the death penalty. It was used along with others in the 1988 massacre that reportedly killed at least 5,000 people.
At a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Iran in Geneva on Friday, Volker Türk, the UN commissioner for human rights, expressed concern over “contradictory statements by the Iranian authorities about whether those arrested in connection with the protests can be executed.”
He said Iran “remains among the most violent states in the world,” with at least 1,500 people reportedly killed last year – a 50 percent increase by 2024.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Haji Ali Akbari, the Friday prayer leader in Tehran, mocked Trump as a “yellow-faced, yellow-haired and disgraced man” who is “only like a barking dog.” “This stupid man has turned to threatening the nation, especially about what he said about the leader of Iran,” said the cleric commenting on Iranian radio. “In the event of any damage, all your interests and bases in the region will be clear and direct to the Iranian forces.”
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on Thursday condemning the “repression and mass killings carried out by the Iranian regime against protesters in Iran.” The resolution called for the release of those arrested and urged the European Council to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which has been key to reducing protests across the country, as a terrorist organization.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “deep disgust at the abusive language” of the decision. In a statement issued on Friday, it emphasized that “any illegal decision or intervention or position regarding the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the national security guards will be met with retaliatory measures by Iran, and the responsibility for the consequences will be on those who initiate such actions.”
The latest death toll was released by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which reported that more than 4,700 people had died protesting. It added that more than 27,600 people have been arrested in the expanded arrest campaign.
The group’s figures have been accurate in previous conflicts and rely on a network of activists in Iran to confirm casualties. That death toll exceeds that of any other cycle of protest or unrest in decades, and recalls the turmoil surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Iranian government gave the first death toll on Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had been killed. It added that 2,427 of those killed in the protests that began on December 28 were civilians and security forces, while the rest were “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s democratic regime has either counted or underreported the number of people killed in the unrest.
The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the death toll, in part because authorities have cut off internet access and blocked international calls into the country.
US warships are on their way
Meanwhile the US military has moved military equipment to the Mideast, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships from the South China Sea.
A US military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements, said Thursday that the Lincoln team was in the Indian Ocean.
Trump said Thursday aboard Air Force One that the US is sending ships to Iran “in case” it wants to take action.
“We have a big ship headed there and we probably won’t have to use it,” Trump said.
Trump also highlighted the many conversations US officials had with Iran about its nuclear program before Israel launched a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic in June, when US warplanes bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities. He threatened Iran with military action that would make previous US strikes against its uranium enrichment facilities “look like peanuts.”
“They should have made a deal before we hit them,” Trump said.
The UK Ministry of Defense said separately that its joint Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet squad with Qatar, 12 Squadron, “has been deployed to the (Persian) Gulf for defensive purposes in view of regional tensions.”
