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The United States rejected Iran’s description of peaceful protests as “terrorist operations,” saying Tehran is distorting reality to justify its crackdown on dissent.
In a post on X on Tuesday, the US State Department’s Persian-language account said it takes great audacity for Iranian officials to accuse peaceful Iranians of terrorism while the Islamic Republic uses violence and intimidation to suppress protesters and supports real terrorists abroad.
The statement said portraying protesters as terrorists and blaming them for destruction was an attempt to shift responsibility and present the ruling system as a victim.
“The reality is clear,” the post said, adding that ordinary Iranians were demanding their rights and the authorities responded with repression, as they have for decades.
The United States said the world would not be deceived by what it called overt propaganda, stressing that Washington stands firmly with the people of Iran and that “the Iranian people deserve better.”
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said the UN Security Council must explicitly name and condemn what he described as violations committed by the United States, accusing Washington of repeatedly threatening sovereign countries.
Amir Saeid Iravani said US President Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly threatened Iran with the use of force and military intervention.
Iravani said the Security Council has a responsibility to clearly identify such actions and “call them by their real name.”
The Trump administration wants Tehran to halt its nuclear “escalations,” ballistic missile program and support for regional proxy groups, a spokesperson for the Department of State told Iran International on Monday.
"Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, must stop its nuclear escalations, its ballistic missile program, and its support for its terrorist proxies," the spokesperson said.
"For decades, the Iranian regime has willfully neglected the nation’s economy, agriculture, water, and electricity to instead squander Iranian people’s vast wealth and future on terrorist proxies and nuclear weapons research."
The spokesperson made the remarks when asked about an Iranian state media report claiming that “recognition of Israel” has been added to the Trump administration’s preconditions for peace with Tehran.
Tehran has long rejected heeding a US diplomatic push for it to rein in its nuclear program and military activities as a violation of its sovereignty by an enemy power.
US President Donald Trump told Axios earlier in the day the situation with Iran is “in flux” after he sent a “big armada” to the region but believes Tehran is eager to cut a deal. “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk."
Separately, Axios quoted US officials as saying any potential agreement with Tehran would require the removal of all highly enriched uranium from Iran, strict limits on the country’s long-range missile stockpile, a change in Iran’s policy of supporting regional proxy groups, and a ban on independent uranium enrichment inside the country.
US Central Command on Monday confirmed the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East. "The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability."
The deployment came weeks after Trump promised help for Iranian protesters amid a brutal crackdown where at least 36,500 people were killed. He said he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials, and that "help is on its way" for Iranian people.
The State Department spokesperson said on Monday "the Iranian people want and deserve a better life."
"The regime’s brutal suppression of the Iranian people is on full display," the spokesperson said.
US Senator Lindsey Graham said Washington’s decisions on Iran and the wider region must protect “our people,” including Iranian protesters and the Kurds, warning that abandoning them would be a historic failure.
“Our people have to include those who would be friends of America in the face of oppression: the protesters in Iran and the brave Kurds. These are difficult decisions. But to abandon the Iranian people and the brave Kurds would be, in my view, Benghazi times a million,” Graham wrote on X on Monday.
“I am confident that President Trump, who has done a marvelous job protecting America, will make the right call. God bless President Trump and all under his command,” he added.
Israel’s i24NEWS reported on Monday that the Trump administration is studying a naval blockade to choke off Iran’s oil exports, echoing the Venezuela playbook as US forces mass near Iranian waters.
“Among the options under review is a maritime cordon designed to stop Iran’s oil exports at sea,” the report said.
