By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Iran says it will immediately retaliate if Washington launches strikes against the Islamic Republic, amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations across major cities in the country.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that all US military and shipping bases and Israel would be “legitimate targets” in the event of an attack by the US in Iranian territory.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iranian authorities kill protesters, who are challenging the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule.
He wrote on social media on Saturday: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocracy crossed the two-week mark on Sunday, with demonstrators flooding the streets in Tehran, the country’s capital, and its second-largest city, Mashhad.
Protests spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran, posing the biggest challenge to the Iranian regime in years.
Ongoing communications blackout has made it more difficult to gauge the demonstrations from abroad.
The death toll in the protests has grown to at least 203, while 2,600 people have been detained, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addressed the anti-government demonstrations for the first time on Sunday, saying that officials will listen to those protesting.
His remarks signal a hardening stance from the reformist leader, who has been unable to ease public anger as economic distress has fueled a direct challenge to the nation’s theocracy.
“People have concerns, we should sit with them, and if it is our duty, we should resolve their concerns,” Pezeshkian said. “But the higher duty is not to allow a group of rioters to come and destroy the entire society.”
Iranian state television aired the interview with Pezeshkian on Sunday, hours after Qalibaf made the retaliation threat to Washington.
Several people who protested in recent days have told ITV News’ US partner CNN of enormous crowds as well as brutal violence on the streets of Tehran, with one woman saying she saw “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital.
