Iran warns against 'instability' after US strike group arrives

PARIS: Iran's president on Tuesday warned US "threats" against the Islamic Republic would only cause instability, as a US naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier took up position in Middle Eastern waters.

Washington has not ruled out military intervention against Tehran over its crackdown on protests — which rights groups say left thousands of people dead — and President Donald Trump has dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln to the area "just in case."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hit out at US "threats" in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying they were "aimed at disrupting the security of the region and will achieve nothing other than instability."

The US also maintains several bases in the Middle East, prompting a Revolutionary Guards commander to issue a warning to Iran's neighbors on Tuesday.

"Neighboring countries are our friends, but if their soil, sky, or waters are used against Iran, they will be considered hostile," Mohammad Akbarzadeh, political deputy of the IRGC naval forces, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

Since Iran launched its crackdown on protests earlier this month, accompanied by a blanket internet blackout, Trump has given mixed signals on intervention, which some opponents of the clerical leadership see as the only way to bring about change.

"We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela," Trump told the Axios news site on Monday, weeks after the US military captured the Latin American nation's president, Nicolas Maduro.

But he added, "They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk."

Tehran has previously said a channel of communication is open between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff, despite the lack of diplomatic relations between the two foes.

Axios said Trump declined to discuss the options presented to him by his national security team, or which he prefers.

Analysts say options include strikes on military facilities or targeted attacks against the leadership under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a bid to bring down the system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.