DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Iranian officials reached out to the wider Middle East on Wednesday over the threat of a possible U.S.military strike on the country, a month since the start of protests in Iran that soon spread nationwide and sparked a bloody crackdown.
Two nations, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have signaled they won't allow their airspace to be used for any attack.But America has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided missile destroyers into the region, which can be used to launch attacks from the sea.
It remains unclear what U.S.President Donald Trump will decide about using force, though he laid down two red lines — the killing of peaceful demonstrators and the possible mass execution of detainees.
The protests saw at least 6,221 people killed as Iran launched a bloody crackdown on the demonstrations, with many others feared dead, activists said Wednesday.Iran's state-run media, which now only refers to protesters as “terrorists,” remains the sole source of news for many as Tehran cut off access to the global internet some three weeks ago.
But Iranians have become angry and anxious in the weeks since, seeing footage of protesters shot and killed while worrying about what may happen next as the country's economy sinks further.“I feel that my generation failed to give a better lesson to younger ones," said Mohammad Heidari, a 59-year-old high school teacher in Tehran.“The result of decades of teaching by my colleagues and me led to death of thousands, and maybe more injured and prisoners.”Egypt's Foreign Ministry said its top diplomat, Badr Abdelatty, separately spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S.
Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff to “work toward achieving calm, in order to avoid the region slipping into new cycles of instability.” The statement offered no details, though Iranian state media quoted Araghchi as saying third-party mediators had been in touch.Witkoff, a billionaire real est...