Iran-Trump latest: Two explosions leave five dead as regime denies military leader targeted

Iran’s army chief Amir Hatami warned Israel and the US against attacking Tehran following Washington’s deployment of its fleets 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 Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

The army chief said Iran’s forces were “at full defensive and military readiness”.

A top Iranian national security official said in a post on X that negotiations with the United States are progressing even as tensions rise in the Middle East amid a buildup of American forces in the Gulf.

“Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing,” said Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, without providing further details about the nature of the framework.

US president Donald Trump has also suggested Iran is negotiating with Washington.

“[Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something; otherwise, we’ll see what happens… We have a big fleet heading out there,” Trump told Fox News.

Thousands of people gathered on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to form a human chain, showing support for the people of Iran amid Tehran’s brutal crackdown on protesters calling for regime change.

Witnesses say there were likely over 20,000 protesters forming the human chain for Iran, covering the entire length of the bridge.

Protesters are calling for greater international pressure on the Iranian regime to end violence and political repression.

Similar protests were organised in 2022 on the bridge following the in-custody death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish womanMahsa Amini, who had been detained by Iran’s “morality police” for “improper wearing of the hijab”.

The US president has suggested that there is a deal in progress with India to buy oil from Venezuela instead of Iran.

“We’ve already made that deal, the concept of the deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Until 2018, Tehran was one of New Delhi’s largest suppliers of crude oil, with imports hitting a peak of about $12bn, but threats of sanctions have significantly reduced its crude imports from Iran.

Currently, Iranian oil accounts for about 0.04 per cent of India’s total crude imports, with an estimated value of about $70m.

After reiterating that the US has dispatched its “armada” to the Middle East, US president Donald Trump said he hoped Iran’s leadership negotiated “something that’s acceptable”.

Asked if failing to strike would embolden Iran, he said, “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”

“You could make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory with no nuclear weapons… They should do that, but I don’t know that they will. They are talking to us – seriously talking,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

A top Iranian security official has said that work on a framework for negotiations with the United States was progressing.

In a post on social media on Saturday, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said: “Contrary to the atmosphere being created by artificial media warfare, the formation of a structure for #negotiations is underway.”

It follows comments from Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday, who said the country was ready for “fair and equitable” talks.

“Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot take place under the shadow of threats,” he said.

On a late January afternoon, British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili arrived at The Independent’s offices wearing a navy blue military-style jacket.

“I’m dressed like Zelensky,” the 60-year-old says, in the playful manner seen in his stand-up comedy and acting roles in blockbuster films including “The Mummy” and “Gladiator”.

More recently, since the start of the protests in Iran, and the deadly crackdown by the Islamic regime, Djalili has been fighting for Iran’s freedom.

Djalili has given over his social media to the “voiceless”, as he describes them, the Iranians stuck in an internet blackout imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in Tehran on Saturday to discuss easing regional tensions.

In a statment, Qatar’s foreign ministry said: “During the meeting, they reviewed ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.

“He also stressed the need for concerted efforts to spare the peoples of the region the consequence of escalation and to continue coordination with brotherly and friendly countries to address differences through diplomatic means.”

Donald Trump said the US was talking to Iran and suggested the two countries were trying to negotiate a deal.

Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, President Trump said the US could not share its military plans with Gulf allies due to security reasons.

Trump said: ‘‘Well, we can’t tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you the plan — it could be worse, actually.

‘‘But look, the plan is that [Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, otherwise we’ll see what happens… We have a big fleet heading out there, bigger than we had — and still have, actually — in Venezuela.’’