Iran says US seeking “pretext for military intervention”

Iran's government on Tuesday accused the United States of seeking to manufacture a pretext for military intervention, after US President Donald Trump threatened "strong action" over the reported crackdown on mass protests.

"US fantasies and policy toward Iran are rooted in regime change, with sanctions, threats, engineered unrest, and chaos serving as the modus operandi to manufacture a pretext for military intervention," Iran's UN mission posted on X, vowing that Washington's "playbook" would "fail again."

Earlier today, Trump said Tuesday that the United States would react strongly if authorities in Iran started hanging people in their crackdown.

"We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," he told CBS News in an interview, when asked about hangings potentially beginning on Wednesday.

"When they start killing thousands of people -- and now you're telling me about hanging. We'll see how that's going to work out for them," Trump said in a video clip released online.

The interview took place as Trump was in the northern US state of Michigan to visit a manufacturing plant and deliver a speech on the economy.

In his speech, Trump reiterated a message he had posted earlier on social media, that "help is on its way" for the Iranian protesters.

He also said it was unclear what the death toll in Iran actually was.

"I hear numbers -- look, one death is too much -- but I hear much lower numbers, and then I hear much higher numbers," he said.

Later, speaking to reporters on his return to Washington, Trump said he would soon be receiving a briefing on Iran.

"The killing looks like it's significant, but we don't know yet for certain. I'll know within 20 minutes -- and we'll act accordingly," he said.

Trump had previously vowed the United States would get involved if protesters were killed, a line crossed days ago.