Iran said it maintains open communication with the US as President Donald Trump considers how to respond to the violent repression of protests, which is one of the biggest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reports "Reuters".
Yesterday, Trump indicated that the US may meet with Iranian representatives and that he is in contact with the opposition, while putting pressure on the leaders of the Islamic Republic, including threatening possible military action in response to violence against protesters.
Iran has experienced waves of protests before with similar bloody repression to the current one. This time, however, the leadership is facing nationwide demonstrations that have escalated from complaints about severe economic hardship to defiant calls for the downfall of the clergy, whose regional influence has been significantly reduced.
"The communication channel between our Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and the US special envoy (Steve Witkoff) is open and messages are exchanged when necessary", Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said today.
Contacts also remain open through the traditional mediator Switzerland, he added.
"The US has raised some cases, ideas have been raised, and overall the Islamic Republic is a country that has never left the negotiating table". Baghaei added, however, that "the conflicting messages" from the US show a lack of seriousness and are not convincing.
Araqchi reiterated in a briefing to foreign ambassadors in Tehran that the Islamic Republic is ready for war, but is also open to dialogue.
The US-based human rights group HRANA said it had confirmed the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, and more than 10,600 people have been arrested since the protests began on December 28.
Iran has not provided an official death toll. The flow of information from the country has been hampered by an internet outage since Thursday.
Yesterday, Trump said Iran had called for talks on its nuclear program. Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war in June.
"Iran wants to talk, yes. We can meet with them. "A meeting is being arranged, but we may have to act because of what's happening before the meeting, but a meeting is being arranged. Iran has called, they want to negotiate," he said.
Trump will meet with senior advisers tomorrow to discuss options for Iran, a US official said.
"The Wall Street Journal" reported that options include military strikes, the use of secret cyberweapons, expanding sanctions and providing online assistance to anti-government sources.
Strikes against military targets can be highly risky. Some bases of elite military and security forces may be located in densely populated areas, so any attack ordered by Trump could cause heavy civilian casualties.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against "misjudgement".
"Let's be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (of Israel), as well as all American bases and ships, will be our legitimate targets," stressed Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
However, Tehran is still recovering from last year's war and its regional influence has been significantly weakened by strikes on its allies, such as Lebanon's "Hezbollah".