Zürcher Nachrichten - Turkey leads Iran diplomatic push as Trump softens strike threat

Tehran and Washington have been trading warnings since Trump threatened military action over a deadly crackdown on protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances and peaked on January 8 and 9.

Pressure mounted after the United States moved a naval fleet into the region, with Trump warning time was "running out" for Tehran, pushing for Iran to make a deal on its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

The US president brought the temperature down late on Thursday, saying he hoped to avoid military action and saying talks were on the cards with Iran.

"We have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won't have to use it," Trump said, while speaking to media at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.

The stand off has spurred calls for diplomacy from regional actors and allies of the rival countries.

Iran's neighbour Turkey led a diplomatic charge on Friday, offering to mediate between Tehran and Washington.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a call that Turkey was "ready to assume a facilitating role between Iran and the United States to de-escalate the tensions and resolve the issues".

Pezeshkian meanwhile said the success of diplomacy depended on the "goodwill of the parties involved and the abandonment of belligerent and threatening actions in the region," his office said.

The call came as Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had travelled to Istanbul for top-level talks on the matter with Turkish top diplomat Hakan Fidan as well as meet with Erdogan, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.

- Immediate 'countermeasures' -

Gulf states, some of which host US military sites, have also called for calm, while Tehran-ally Russia has urged negotiations.

US ally the European Union also advocated against military action but sent a message of condemnation to Tehran over the crackdown on protests that rights groups say killed thousands of people by designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) a "terrorist organisation".

Iran quickly hit back at the move, with Araghchi calling it a "mistake" and the military saying it was "irresponsible and spite-driven".

On Friday, Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on X that "countermeasures will be immediate" in response to the designation.

He accused the West of hypocrisy over Israel's war in Gaza, saying "the meaning of terrorism in American and European discourse has been transformed".

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had said, "'Terrorist' is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people's protests in blood", as she hailed the designation of the IRGC, which activists say played a frontline role in suppressing protests.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,479 people were killed in the demonstrations, including 6,092 protesters and 118 children, as internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to hinder access to information inside the country.

But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands.

Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of more than 3,000 deaths, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by "rioters".

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P.Gashi--NZN