Tehran hits back at Germany over Hormuz de-mining costs

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary warned US President Donald Trump that Tehran would respond “in another language” unless he spoke to the Iranian people “with respect,” after Trump said the United States would “finish the job” if no deal is reached with Iran.

“I say to the delusional president of the United States, who today threatened 91 million Iranians: Speak to the Iranian people with respect, or we will respond to you in another language,” Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said.

Zolghadr said Trump had previously used similar language to threaten Iran’s “several-thousand-year-old civilization,” adding that the result for Washington had been “defeat, desperation and requests for negotiations and a ceasefire.”

Trump earlier said Washington was “close to maybe making a deal” with Iran but warned: “We’re either going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job.”

Trump also said the United States could “knock down” Iran’s bridges “in one hour” and take out its energy supply and power plants “in a small part of an afternoon.”

An Iranian protester detained during the nationwide January uprising has been sentenced to death on the charge of “waging war against God,” US-based rights group HRANA reported on Monday.

Kamal Khan-Babaei is being held in Chubindar Prison in the northwestern city of Qazvin, where Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court issued the sentence, the report said.

HRANA reported, citing an informed source, that one of the alleged grounds cited in the case against Khan-Babaei was breaking two cameras.

Iran's exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, in an address to the Dutch parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, called for supporting the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy, describing it as an investment in the security of the Netherlands and the stability of Europe.

Pahlavi said a democratic Iran would end support for terrorism, stop supplying equipment to Russia’s war machine, help stabilize the region and become a partner for Europe in trade and investment.

“The Islamic Republic is no longer merely a challenge in the Middle East; it has become a threat to Europe and the world,” Pahlavi said, according to a copy of his speech published by his press office.

“Supporting the people of Iran is not merely a humanitarian gesture toward a distant country; it is an investment in the security of the Netherlands, the stability of Europe and a Middle East that exports trade, cooperation and prosperity instead of terrorism, instability and waves of refugees,” he said.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said those responsible for the killing of Ali Khamenei would be punished, adding that the “final step of revenge” would be realized through the “liberation of Jerusalem.”

In a message marking Khamenei’s funeral procession in Tehran, Ghalibaf said Iranians had spent the past four months chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” and demanding revenge against what he called “the killers of our martyred imam.”

“The aggressors against Islamic Iran and the killers of the martyrs of this land, especially the leader of the ummah, will pay for their actions,” he said.

Ghalibaf, who leads Iran's negotiations with the United States, said the struggle would continue through both military and diplomatic means, describing negotiations as part of Iran’s broader “civilizational” confrontation with what he called domineering powers.

The report said Lindsay Foreman had not received a medical checkup for about 10 days and was suffering from dizziness, body tremors, severe weakness and more than 14 kg of weight loss. Craig Foreman had lost about 16 kilograms, it added.

HRANA cited an informed source as saying the couple had recently been allowed phone contact with their lawyer but remained barred from speaking to their family, children and each other.

The source said pressure on the couple intensified after interviews with BBC World in which they discussed executions in Iran.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in prison in February on espionage charges, which they deny.

The couple were first detained in the southeastern city of Kerman, where they spent 30 days in solitary confinement before being transferred to Tehran, the family has said, adding that, they had entered Iran with valid visas, a licensed guide and a cleared itinerary.