Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “If Americans start a war this time, it will be a regional conflict”, reported Tasnim news agency.

Iran and the United States have been trading warnings and threats of potential military action for weeks.

Tehran’s response to the protests have led US President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene, dispatching an aircraft carrier group to the region.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, again has become a focus of tensions as Iran prepares to launch a military drill that could see fire into a lane crucial for global shipping.

Iran has warned ships that it will conduct a live fire drill Sunday and Monday in the strait, which sees a fifth of all oil traded pass through the tight corridor between the Islamic Republic and Oman, Associated Press reported.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The Guards are the ideological arm of Iran’s military, tasked with safeguarding the Islamic revolution from external and internal threats.

They have been accused by Western governments of orchestrating a crackdown on a recent protest movement that left thousands dead.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran considers as “terrorist groups” the armies of EU countries that listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday.

The EU marked a symbolic shift in its approach to Iran’s leadership on Thursday by designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, following what turned out to be the Islamic Republic’s bloodiest crackdown of protests since its establishment in 1979.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran’s parliament speaker, citing 2019 law, says Tehran now considers all European Union militaries as terrorist groups.

European Union foreign ministers earlier agreed to designate Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, placing the powerful force in the same category as Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The protests in Iran began with a different tone. They were first led by workers who were angry about the sharp fall in the country’s currency. The authorities recognised their grievances and said they would offer economic relief.

When young people later took part, the movement shifted into a bigger challenge against the government. It became the most serious test for the country’s clerical leadership in nearly five decades of rule. The response from the state was rapid and forceful.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his Egyptian counterpart on Saturday that Tehran was not seeking a conflict with the United States and any clash would do neither side any good.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region,” he said.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday against Iran’s interior minister, accusing Eskandar Momeni of repressing nationwide protests that have challenged Tehran’s theocratic government.

The penalties are the latest by the United States and the European Union targeting high-ranking officials over the crackdown.

The administration says Momeni has overseen Iran’s law enforcement forces that are responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Speaking to reporters, US President Donald Trump said, “I certainly can’t tell you that, but we do have really big powerful ships heading in that direction, as you know. I can’t tell you, but I hope to negotiate something that’s acceptable.”

Iran-US tensions live updates: Turkey opposes a military intervention against Iran, warning such an action would lead to regional instability.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered on Friday to act as a “facilitator” between Iran and the US during a telephone call with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Erdogan’s office.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that US, Israeli and European leaders had exploited Iran’s economic problems, incited unrest and provided people with the means to “tear the nation apart” in recent protests.

The US, Israeli and European leaders tried to “provoke, create division, and supplied resources, drawing some innocent people into this movement,” Pezeshkian said in a live state TV broadcast.

US-Iran news live updates: Saudi Arabia has rejected the use of its airspace for any military operations against Iran, according to London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, which cited a Saudi official.

Washington has deployed warships led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off Iran’s shores, after Trump threatened to intervene in the wake of Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

US-Iran news live updates: US President Donald Trump has reportedly been presented with a set of expanded military options against Iran. These include possible commando missions at nuclear sites, strikes targeting senior leadership to support a change in government, and attacks on ballistic missile units, NYT reported earlier this week.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Hospitals are no longer places of safety as Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests impacts all aspects of life, rights groups say, with authorities arresting wounded protesters and even the medics who treat them.

Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands of people and wounding more by directly firing on protests, often with birdshot that can leave metal pellets lodged in the body until hygienically extracted by a professional.

But rights groups say authorities have raided hospitals searching for people with wounds that suggest they were involved in protests, news agency AFP reported. At least five doctors have meanwhile been arrested for treating them, according to the World Health Organisation.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Security has been tightened, and law enforcement forces are increasing their presence across Iran. Some reports have also mentioned the unusual buildup in Tehran as well as the western cities of Ardabil and Kermanshah, Telegram channel Bazaar Civil Protest reported, citing field observations.

This comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, who also serves as foreign minister, held talks in Iran Saturday to try to “de-escalate tensions in the region” the kingdom’s foreign ministry said Saturday.

At a meeting with Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, he reiterated Qatar’s support for “all efforts aimed at reducing tensions… in the region,” said the statement.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The United States on Friday announced sanctions against Iran’s interior minister and other officials, following the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in the country in recent weeks.

Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni “oversees the murderous Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement about the measures.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iranian army chief Amir Hatami on Saturday warned the United States and Israel against an attack, saying his country’s forces were on high alert following Washington’s heavy military deployments in the Gulf.

“If the enemy makes a mistake, without a doubt it will endanger its own security, the security of the region, and the security of the Zionist regime,” Hatami said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told his Egyptian counterpart in a phone call on Saturday: “We hope the other side has also come to understand that Iran cannot be forced into negotiations through threats or the use of force.”

“Any aggression or attack on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with a firm and decisive response,” he said.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran is “seriously talking” with Washington, and that he hoped Tehran would accept a deal for them to give up their nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Iranian army chief Amir Hatami warned the United States and Israel against an attack, saying his country’s forces were on high alert following Washington’s heavy military deployments in the Gulf.