The prospect of war edged closer in the past hours as confrontational rhetoric escalated between Washington and Tehran, after US President Donald Trump publicly backed protests in Iran, prompting urgent regional efforts to prevent the United States from dragging the Middle East into another conflict.
Protests first erupted in late December in the Iranian capital, Tehran, driven by deteriorating economic conditions and soaring prices. They later spread to other cities and escalated into clashes with security forces, resulting in mounting casualties.
An Iranian official told Reuters that 2,000 people had been killed, blaming those he described as “terrorists” for the killings. In a report published Wednesday, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based organization, said it had verified the killing of 2,403 protesters, including 12 children under the age of 18, as well as nine people who were not participating in the protests and 147 members of the security forces and government supporters.
The agency documented 1,134 people suffering severe injuries, 18,434 arrests and the broadcast of 97 cases of forced confessions. It said it is still investigating 779 additional reports of possible deaths.
On Tuesday, Trump urged “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” in a morning post on Truth Social. "HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!," he added, promising to make Iran great again.
In an interview with CBS, Trump said the United States would take “very strong action” if Iranian authorities began executing protesters.
Tehran responded with its own warnings. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran had warned countries in the region it would strike US military bases on their territory if the United States launched an attack on Iran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations accused Washington of seeking to “fabricate a pretext for military intervention,” stressing that “this strategy has failed before.”
The mission said US policy toward Iran is rooted in regime change, asserting that “sanctions, threats, manufactured unrest and chaos are used as a method of operation.”
The escalating confrontation rippled through global markets. Oil prices rose for a fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, climbing about 1.3% amid fears of disruptions to Iranian supply following a potential US attack and possible Iranian retaliation against US interests across the region. Brent crude rose to $66.32 a barrel, according to Reuters.
Reuters also reported, citing three diplomats, that some personnel had been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening.
Behind the scenes, regional governments moved to contain the crisis. An Arab Gulf diplomat, speaking anonymously to the AP, said major Middle Eastern governments were trying to dissuade the Trump administration from launching a war on Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” in an already volatile region.
The Cairo-based diplomat said key regional governments, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, are in constant contact with Washington over the prospect of a US strike on Iran that could spiral into a full-scale war.
The current escalation follows a recent precedent of open confrontation. In June, Israel launched a 12-day war of aggression against Iran, after which the US joined by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, before Trump announced an agreement and declared the war over.
