Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Thousands have died during weeks of protests.
Protests across Iran have drawn renewed international attention as Washington sharpens its tone toward Tehran.
The unrest, rooted in economic pressure and political anger, began in late December in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and quickly spread nationwide.
According to the U.S.-based HRANA rights group, 4,519 unrest-linked deaths have been verified so far, most of them protesters, with thousands more cases under review.
An Iranian official told Reuters the confirmed death toll exceeded 5,000, including about 500 members of the security forces.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Teheran, that the U.S. would intervene, if the regime killed protesters or restarted its nuclear program – and now, U.S. seems to be preparing for an intervention.
The “armada” is en route
According to Financial Times, The Telegraph and Reuters, Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One after attending the Davos meeting of world leaders, and said:
“We have a lot of ships going that direction (Iran), just in case …I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely”, later calling it an “armada”.
U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, told Reuters that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.
Additional air-defense systems are also under consideration to protect U.S. bases.
Sources: Reuters, Financial Times, The Telegraph
