Trump-Iran live: US president says ‘very big, powerful ships sailing to Iran’ as he signals talks – UK Times

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that the violence in Iran has killed at least 6,479 people in recent weeks, with many more feared dead.

Its count included at least 6,092 protesters, 214 government-affiliated forces, 118 children and 55 civilians who were not demonstrating. More than 47,200 have been arrested, it added.

The group verifies each death and arrest with a network of activists on the ground, and it has been accurate in multiple rounds of previous unrest in Iran.

As of 21 January, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces and labeling the rest “terrorists”.

In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

The Tories have called on ministers to take action against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following a government commitment to introduce laws allowing for state-backed groups to be banned.

Foreign Secretary and former home secretary Yvette Cooper announced last May that powers would be created to proscribe such organisations if they are deemed to pose a threat to Britain after recommendations by terror watchdog Jonathan Hall KC.

Yesterday, the European Union added the IRGC to its list of designated organisations in response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in recent weeks.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the brutality of the Iranian regime was an “affront to humanity” as she renewed calls for a UK ban following the move.

The Tory frontbencher said: “The Labour government’s silence on the IRGC is appalling. We have said that we would work with them to bring forward the legal and legislative mechanisms for the UK to take action.”

Britain must stand up for the Iranian people and confront this vile regime with strength and resolve.”

‘Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the designation as a “PR stunt” and said Europe would be affected if energy prices surge as a result of the sanctions.

“Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. None of them are European,” he wrote on X.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said foreign ministers in the 27-nation bloc unanimously agreed on the designation, which she said will put the regime “on the same footing” with al-Qaida, Hamas and the Islamic State group.

Iran issued a warning to ships at sea yesterday that it planned to run a drill next week that would include live firing in the Strait of Hormuz, potentially disrupting traffic through a waterway that sees 20% of all the world’s oil pass through it.

US president Donald Trump said he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US dispatched another warship to the Middle East and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the military would be ready to carry out whatever the president decided.

Speaking to reporters, Trump did not elaborate on the nature or timing of any dialogue or say who from Washington would lead the negotiations.

“I am planning on it, yeah,” Trump said when asked about possible discussions with Tehran.

“We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”

US officials say Trump is reviewing his options but has not decided whether to strike Iran. US-Iranian tensions have soared in recent weeks after a bloody crackdown on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has decided to “revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States”, the department of state has announced.

“Those who profit from the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system,” it said.

It follows an announcement from the department of homeland security on Monday that it had deported three Iranians who it said were all former IRGC members.

The total number of confirmed deaths in the recent protests in Iran has reached 6,221, while 42,324 arrests have been made.

According to the latest data from US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 5,858 of those confirmed dead were protestors, 100 were children, 214 were forces affiliated with the government, and 49 were non-protester civilians.

The number of severely injured individuals stands at 11,017 and another 11,026 people have been summoned to security institutions.

The group has reported that 17,091 deaths are still under investigation.

Iran’s foreign ministry has denounced the EU’s decision to blacklist Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, saying the move was both “illegal” and “political”.

The ministry also said that designating a county’s official military institution as a “terrorist” organisation was a dangerous move.

According to Al Jazeera, the statement said: “The IRGC is a formal and lawful institution which, under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, plays a fundamental role in safeguarding national sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity, and in combating terrorism.”

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has grown into a powerful force within the country’s theocracy, answering only to its supreme leader and overseeing its ballistic missile arsenal and launching attacks overseas.

The force was in the spotlight on Thursday as the European Union moved to declare it a terrorist organization over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran earlier this month.

Here’s what to know about the Guard: