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 a position in Middle Eastern waters.

Washington has not ruled out military intervention against Iran over its crackdown on protests — which rights groups say left thousands of people dead — and US President Donald Trump has dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln to the area “just in case.” He has previously threatened military action against Iran but also indicated openness to dialogue.

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

According to a statement from Saudi Arabi’s foreign ministry, the Saudi prince “affirmed during the call the kingdom’s position on respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that the kingdom will not allow its airspace or its territory to be used for any military actions against” Iran.

The US also maintains several bases in the Middle East, prompting a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps 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 bloody 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........

© The Times of Israel