Donald Trump has told Iran that the ball is in their court as the two countries face a stalemate and thousands of protesters take to the streets of Tehran.
On Sunday Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien boasted that the Trump administration’s sanctions on Iran coupled with protests breaking out in the country against the Islamic Republic regime, will bring Iranian officials to the negotiating table.
Hours later the president tweeted that he ‘couldn’t care less’ if Iranian officials want to negotiate with Washington DC, warning that Iran should instead be careful to not develop nuclear weapons or kill Iranian protesters.
‘National Security Adviser suggested today that sanctions & protests have Iran “choked off”, will force them to negotiate. Actually I couldn’t care less if they negotiate,’ Trump tweeted Sunday evening.
‘Will be totally up to them but, no nuclear weapons and “don’t kill your protesters,”‘ he sternly added.
Trump tweeted Sunday evening that he ‘couldn’t care less’ if Iranian officials want to negotiate with Washington DC, warning that the nation should instead be careful to not develop nuclear weapons or kill Iranian protesters
Protesters pictured holding posters during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran on Sunday January 12
Iranian hardliners pictured burning British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy in Tehran, Iran
At one demonstration at Shaheed Beheshti University on Sunday crowds deliberately avoided walking over the American and Israeli flags painted on the ground, showing respect for the nations
Ali Khamenei’s regime is said to have painted the flags at the main entrance of the university for students to walk over as a sign of disrespect
National Security Adviser O’Brien spoke on Fox on Sunday saying he’s confident that US sanctions and the clamor in Tehran from Iranian citizens will force officials to come to the negotiating table instead of striking back against the US.
‘I think the maximum pressure campaign is working. Iran is being choked off, and Iran is going to have no other choice but to come to the table,’ O’Brien said on Fox News Sunday.
‘What’s going to cause them to negotiate is the pressure on the economy, and when you’ve got students out there chanting “death to the dictator,” and when you have thousands of Iranians out protesting in the street, that’s the sort of pressure that’s going to bring them to the table,’ he added.
All eyes are turned to the US and Iran to see who will act next.
Over the weekend massive protests erupted in Tehran to decry the government and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for mistakenly downing a civilian passenger plane in which dozens of Iranian citizens lost their lives.
‘I think the maximum pressure campaign is working. Iran is being choked off, and Iran is going to have no other choice but to come to the table,’ National Security Adviser O’Brien boasted on Fox on Sunday
On Saturday Trump said he stood with the Iranian protesters while warning leaders of Iran ‘DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching.’
The protests come in the wake of a US military strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the country’s Quds forces. Iran retaliated with a barrage of missiles aimed at two Iraqi bases housing US troops, but no casualties were reported.
After that attack Trump said: ‘Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.’
While there were mass anti-government protests across Iran, there were also anti-US and UK protests in the mix as well.
The anti-government demonstrations broke out over the Ukrainian Airlines disaster where Iranian missiles mistakenly struck a civilian passenger flight and killed 176 people on board, about 130 of them Iranian citizens.
Demonstrators called for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down and for those responsible for the plane fiasco to be held responsible.
Trump has repeatedly warned Iran this week to not kill the thousands of protesters flooding the streets, many in defiance with the regime and demanding the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down
Protests that have broken out in Iran are over the government’s confession that they mistakenly downed Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 on January 8, killing 176 on board, some 130 of them Iranian citizens. Rescue workers at the crash site recovered the bodies of victims on Wednesday (above)
Ukraine International Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 plane wreckage above
Khamenei has been in office for three decades and there is no limit to his time at the helm of the nation.
According to a Reuters report protests have spread beyond Tehran to Shiraz, Esfahan, Hamedan, and Orumiyeh.
At Sunday’s protests riot police and members of the Revolutionary Guard tried to quell the crowds.
Poignant video from Sunday’s protests show students at Shaheed Beheshti University deliberately avoiding walking over the American and Israeli flags painted on the ground, showing respect for the nations and defiance for state propaganda.
Videos of the protests that surfaced on social media show protesters, many of them women, chanting anti-government slogans such as: ‘They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here.’