Spokesman for Iran's armed forces warns Trump against taking action against Khamenei

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces on Tuesday warned U.S. President Donald Trump not to take any action against the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, days after Trump called for an end to Khamenei’s nearly 40-year reign.

“Trump knows that if any hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we not only cut that hand but also we will set fire to their world,” Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi said.

His comments came after Trump, in an interview with Politico Saturday, described Khamenei as “a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people” and added that “it’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.”

Tension between the U.S. and Iran has been high since a violent crackdown by authorities on protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy on Dec. 28. Trump has drawn two red lines for the Islamic Republic — the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations.

A U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been in the South China Sea in recent days had passed through the Strait of Malacca by Tuesday, ship-tracking data showed. Multiple U.S. media reports quoting anonymous officials have said the Lincoln was on its way to the Middle East. It likely would still need several days of travel before its aircraft would be in range of the region.

The death toll from the protests has reached at least 4,484 people, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Tuesday. The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. The AP has been unable to independently confirm the figure.

The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into being. Although there have been no protests for days, there are fears the number could increase significantly as information gradually emerges from a country still under a government-imposed shutdown of the internet since Jan. 8.

Iranian officials have not given a clear casualty figure, although on Saturday, Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead and blamed the United States. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties.

A further 26,127 people have been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Comments from officials have led to fears of some of those detained being put to death in Iran, one of the world’s top executioners.

Iran’s national police chief, Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan, said Monday that people turning themselves in would receive more lenient treatment than those who don’t.

“Those who were deceived by foreign intelligence services, and became their soldiers in practice, have a chance to turn themselves in,” he said in an interview carried by Iran’s state television Monday. “In case of surrender, definitely there will be a reduction in punishment. They have three days to turn themselves in.”

He did not elaborate on what would happen after the three days.