U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iranian leaders "called" him yesterday and "want to negotiate" after threatening possible military actions in retaliation for the violence during protests taking place in the country. "A meeting is being prepared. We are going to make a determination," he told a group of journalists aboard the presidential plane, noting that he is receiving information every hour about the evolution of the protests. "Perhaps we will have to act before a meeting," he added. The head of state considered that the Iranian government is "starting" to cross a line because "people who didn't have to die have died," which he attributed to the reign of "violence" by its leaders. "Some of the protesters died in a stampede, there were many. And some were shot," he declared. Trump said that the U.S. Army is "studying" the issue and "there are a couple of options" that he described with several questions: "Are they asking me what I will do, where I will attack, when and from what angle we will attack?". The Republican, however, said he believes Iran takes its threats seriously after "years" of dealing with him, and referred to the deaths of Revolutionary Guard General Qasem Soleimani, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, or "the decreased Iranian nuclear threat." "And now we just had the one with Venezuela. Wouldn't you say yes (Iran takes the threats seriously) after all the things we did?", he added. In addition, he downplayed his concern about possible Iranian attacks on U.S. bases after today's threats from Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf: "If they do, we will attack them at a level that has never been attacked before." The comments come amid reports that Trump will meet with his cabinet on Tuesday for his first formal discussion on possible actions, including cyberattacks, sanctions, and bombings, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Before leaving, Trump also indicated that he plans to call businessman Elon Musk to address the sending of his company Starlink's satellites to Iran to help with blackouts and "so the internet keeps working." At least 538 people have died, according to data from the U.S.-based NGO Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), in the protests that began on December 28 due to the economic crisis and have spread throughout the country and abroad.
