US regional allies are pushing for a diplomatic offramp as Iran’s supreme leader warns of a “regional war” in the Middle East if the US attacks.
Iran’s top leader has warned that any attack on the country by the United States will trigger a “regional war” in the Middle East, following President Trump’s threats of military intervention in response to the Islamic Republic. to counter the recent protests across the country.
The comments of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said while addressing the crowd in his compound in Tehran and as quoted by the Tasnim news agency, is the direct threat he has made so far since the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the international waters of Iran, in the Persian Gulf.
Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP
Mr. Trump has also expressed his desire to curb Iran’s nuclear program in recent remarks, but it is not clear whether Mr Trump will use force. He has also said that Iran wants to negotiate.
The US’s regional allies, including Turkey and Qatar, are working quickly to organize a diplomatic offensive to avoid US military action in Iran. A possible meeting is planned for Turkey this week, although a senior US official told CBS it was unclear whether the US would participate and who would attend the meeting with the Iranians.
He had said he wanted to continue talks last year before deciding to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities last June, backing Israel’s 12-day war with the country. On Saturday, Mr. Trump has refused to say that he has made up his mind about what he wants to do about Iran now.
In Tehran, Khamenei said the US is interested in the country’s oil, natural gas and other minerals. He said that the Americans wanted to “take over this country, as they controlled it before.”
“The American people must know that if they fight a war this time it will be a regional war,” he said.
The supreme leader added: “We are not instigators, no one will do it, we do not plan to attack any country. But if someone shows greed and wants to attack or abuse, the Iranian nation will face a heavy hand.”
Speaking to reporters when he arrived at the wedding of Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff at the White House, and Erin Elmore, director of diplomatic missions at the US State Department, at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Mr.
“We have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world there, a few days very close, and hopefully we will make a deal. We don’t make a deal, then we will find out if he was right or not,” said Mr.
Majid Saeedi / Getty Images 
Khamenei has also strengthened his position on the recent protests after previously admitting that some protesters have legitimate economic grievances. The protests began on December 28, initially over the collapse of Iran’s currency. It soon grew into a direct challenge to Khamenei’s rule.
“The latest unrest is like a coup,” he said. “Yes, the coup was suppressed. Their aim was to destroy the critical and effective institutions involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked police stations, government institutions, (Revolutionary Guard), banks and mosques – they also burned copies of the Quran. They targeted the institutions that run the country.”
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on an array of sources inside Iran to gather its information, says it has confirmed the deaths of 6,713 people, most of them protesters, and that authorities have arrested at least 49,500 people so far. The Associated Press was unable to independently verify the death toll and arrest figures, as authorities have cut off Iran’s internet to the rest of the world. Other sources have told CBS News and other media outlets that the death toll across the country is very high.
As of January 21, the Iranian government has put the death toll at 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and the rest were “terrorists.” In the past, the democratic regime of Iran has either counted or not reported the killings due to unrest.
Even this government figure exceeds the death toll reported in any other cycle of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos that occurred in 1979.
Iran has planned live military drills on Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a narrow inlet of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil trade passes. The US military’s Central Command, which is the Pentagon’s regional military command in the Middle East, warned against threatening US warships or aircraft during drilling or disrupting commercial traffic.
