U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (January 29) said he was planning to talk to Iran amid rising tensions, Reuters reports.
“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,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the Kennedy Center.
U.S. officials say Trump is reviewing his options but has not decided whether to strike Iran.
“Well, I told them two things. Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters, they are killing them by the thousands. You know, I stopped 837 hangings two weeks ago, but they're going to have to do something. Nobody's, nobody’s seen anything like this," Trump said.
U.S.-Iranian tensions soared following a bloody crackdown on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities in recent weeks.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters, but the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression have since abated.
He has said the United States would act if Tehran resumed its nuclear program after the June airstrikes by Israeli and U.S. forces on key nuclear installations.
