While the Islamic Guard (IRGC) and foreign fighters massacre peaceful protesters in Iran, the Khamenei regime has threatened to attack Israel and the U.S. military and commercial shipping in the region if President Donald Trump orders a strike on Iranian targets. On Sunday, Iran’s parliamentary speaker declared that the U.S. and Israel would be “legitimate targets” in case of an American strike.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump cautioned that if the regime forces “start killing people,” the U.S. will “hit them really hard.”
Iran has so far decided to ignore President Trump’s warnings and has toughened its stance. The regime has unleashed foreign fighters, such as members of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, to crush the popular uprising, according to media reports. Defying U.S. warnings, the Iranian military is also gearing up for the crackdown. “Iran’s army vowed Saturday to join the crackdown,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Reuters reports the latest Iranian threat:
Tehran threatened on Sunday to retaliate against Israel and U.S. military bases in the event of U.S. strikes on Iran, issuing the warning as Israeli sources said Israel was on high alert for the possibility of any U.S. intervention.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaking in parliament on Sunday, warned against “a miscalculation”.
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.(…)
Three Israeli sources, who were present for Israeli security consultations over the weekend, said Israel was on a high-alert footing, but did not elaborate on what that meant.
Amid the Iranian threats, the Israeli armed forces were on high alert. “The Israel Defense Forces said senior commanders held multiple assessments over the weekend as they monitored developments in Iran,” Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported on Sunday. “The IDF said it has strengthened defensive preparedness and operational capabilities and warned it would respond with force if necessary to protect Israeli citizens.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has been briefing President Trump on options for striking Iran, news reports indicate. “President Trump has been briefed in recent days on new options for military strikes in Iran as he considers following through on his threat to attack the country for cracking down on protesters,” The New York Times reported, citing military officials.
President Trump is considering his response, Axios reported Sunday morning:
President Trump is considering several options for supporting the protests in Iran and weakening the regime, two U.S. officials tell Axios. (…)
“All options are on the table for President Trump but no decision has been made,” a U.S. official said.
A second U.S. official said the discussions had included military strikes but most of the options presented to the president at this stage are “not kinetic.”
The officials acknowledged it’s hard to predict which option Trump will choose.
As the uprising entered its third week, the regime has reportedly killed hundreds of protesters. Protests “have since spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all of Iran’s provinces,” the BBC reported Saturday night. “Hundreds of protesters are believed to have been killed or injured, and many more detained.
Other media outlets place the death toll much higher. “The internet shutdown that started on January 8 have made it impossible to obtain a full picture of events on the ground. However, the volume and consistency of incoming accounts suggest that lethal force is being widely used to disperse protesters,” the UK-based Iran International reported. “The most conservative estimates indicate that at least 2,000 people have been killed over the past 48 hours.”
Germany’s DW TV quoted eyewitnesses, saying that “Iranian hospitals” are ‘totally overwhelmed’ by the number of killed and injured and people being brought in, according to reports emerging from the crisis-gripped nation.”
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