Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf today warned that the US military and Israel will be legitimate targets if the United States strikes the Islamic Republic over the ongoing protests roiling the country.

 

 

Speaker Qalibaf’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump reiterated his threat to attack Iran if authorities used force to suppress a growing wave of nationwide protests triggered by public frustration against the government. On the other hand, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the US administration of being behind the large-scale protests in the West Asian country.

 

 

Meanwhile, nationwide anti-government protests in Iran crossed the two-week mark today, with people flooding the streets in the capital Tehran and its second-largest city, Mashhad, this morning. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 200 people have lost their lives in the violence connected with the protests, while 3,280 others have been detained. People also rallied in several European cities to express solidarity with Iranian protests against the regime.

 

 

On the other hand, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, during a televised interview on state television today, adopted a conciliatory approach, pledging to overhaulthe country’s struggling economy.

 

 

President Pezeshkian said his government is ready to listen to its people after two weeks of increasingly violent nationwide demonstrations. Pezeshkian said his embattled administration was determined to resolve the country’s economic problems while accusing the United States and Israel of fomenting deadly unrest.

 

 

The crisis erupted after the Iranian currency plummeted in late December after years of economic duress, triggering mass protests over soaring living costs and inflation. Those protests have since taken on a more political and anti-government nature.