DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force that has been key in putting down recent protests across the country in a crackdown that has left thousands dead, is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger,” its commander said Saturday, as US warships headed for the Middle East.
Nournews, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that the commander, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, warned the United States and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation.”
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guards and dear Iran are more ready than ever, with a finger on the trigger, to execute the orders and directives of the Commander-in-Chief,” Nournews told Pakpour.
Tensions remain high between Iran and the United States following a bloody crackdown on protests that began on December 28, triggered by the collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, and gripped the country for about two weeks.
Trump’s warnings
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Tehran, establishing two red lines for the use of military force: the killing of peaceful demonstrators and the mass execution of people arrested in protests.
Trump has repeatedly said that Iran has halted the execution of 800 people detained in the protests. He did not elaborate on the source of the claim — which Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, strongly denied on Friday in comments carried by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
On Thursday, Trump said aboard Air Force One that the United States was moving warships to Iran “just in case” he wants to take action.
“We have a huge fleet going in that direction and we may not have to use it,” Trump said.
A US Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Thursday that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships traveling with it were in the Indian Ocean.
Trump also mentioned the multiple rounds of talks US officials had with Iran over its nuclear program before Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June, which also saw US warplanes bomb Iranian nuclear sites. He threatened Iran with military action that would make previous US strikes against Iranian uranium enrichment sites “look like peanuts.”
“They should have made a deal before we welcomed them,” Trump said.
Airline jitters
The tension has led at least two European airlines to suspend some flights to the wider region.
Air France has canceled two return flights from Paris to Dubai this weekend. The airline said it is “closely following developments in the Middle East in real time and constantly monitors the geopolitical situation in the territories served and flown by its aircraft in order to ensure the highest level of flight safety and security.” It said it would resume its service to Dubai later on Saturday.
Luxair said it postponed its Saturday flight from Luxembourg to Dubai by 24 hours “in light of the ongoing tensions and insecurity affecting the region’s airspace, and in line with the measures taken by many other airlines.”
She told the AP she was closely monitoring the situation “and a decision will be made on whether the flight will operate tomorrow based on the ongoing assessment.”
Arrivals information at Dubai international airport also showed the cancellation of Saturday flights from Amsterdam by Dutch carriers KLM and Transavia. The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Some KLM flights to Tel Aviv in Israel were also canceled on Friday and Saturday, according to online flight trackers.
The death toll is rising
Although there have been no other demonstrations in Iran for days, the death toll reported by activists has continued to rise as information trickles in despite the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iran’s history, which has now lasted more than two weeks.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Saturday put the death toll at 5,137, with the number expected to rise. More than 27,700 people were arrested, he said.
The group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and is reminiscent of the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s government offered its first death toll on Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had been killed. He said 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labeling the rest as “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or underreported deaths from unrest.
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Associated Press Writers Writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Samuel Petrequin in Paris, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Constantin and Amer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.