Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander tells US he’s “finger on the trigger”

Revolutionary Guard warning as U.S. moves warships

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the United States that his force is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger,” a report carried on Nournews said as U.S. warships headed toward the Middle East.

Nournews, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that Gen. Mohammad Pakpour warned Washington and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation.” The outlet quoted Pakpour saying: “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard and dear Iran stand more ready than ever, finger on the trigger, to execute the orders and directives of the Commander-in-Chief.”

The AP said tensions remained high between Iran and the U.S. after a crackdown on nationwide protests that began on Dec. 28 following the collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, and swept the country for about two weeks. Activists have reported thousands of deaths and mass arrests since then, even as there have been no further demonstrations for days.

Trump’s stated military red lines and denial over executions

The AP reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Tehran and set two red lines for the use of military force: the killing of peaceful demonstrators and the mass execution of people arrested in the protests.

Trump has also said Iran halted the execution of 800 people detained in the protests, the AP reported. It said Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, strongly denied the claim in comments carried by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the U.S. was moving warships toward Iran “just in case” he wanted to take action. Trump said, “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” the AP reported.

A U.S. Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, told the AP that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships traveling with it were in the Indian Ocean.

Airline cancellations and schedule changes in the region

The heightened tensions prompted airlines to suspend some flights to the wider region, the AP reported.

Air France canceled two return flights from Paris to Dubai over the weekend. The airline said it was “closely following developments in the Middle East in real time and continuously monitors the geopolitical situation in the territories served and overflown by its aircraft in order to ensure the highest level of flight safety and security.” It said it would resume service to Dubai later Saturday.

Luxair postponed its Saturday flight from Luxembourg to Dubai by 24 hours, citing “ongoing tensions and insecurity affecting the region’s airspace” and “measures taken by several other airlines.” The carrier told the AP it was closely monitoring the situation and that a decision on whether the flight would operate would be taken based on the ongoing assessment.

Arrivals information at Dubai’s international airport also showed cancellation of Saturday flights from Amsterdam by Dutch carriers KLM and Transavia, and online flight trackers showed some KLM flights to Tel Aviv canceled on Friday and Saturday.

Death toll dispute and sharp jump in arrests

While the AP said there have been no further demonstrations for days, activists’ reported death toll continued to rise as information trickled out amid what the report described as the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iran’s history, now lasting more than two weeks.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the death toll at 5,200 on Saturday, the AP reported, and said the figure was expected to increase. The AP said the group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths.

Iran’s government offered its first death toll on Wednesday, the AP said, saying 3,117 people were killed. The government said 2,427 were civilians and security forces and labeled the rest as “terrorists,” according to the AP report.

The activist agency increased the number of people arrested to 40,879 on Saturday, the AP reported, up from more than 27,700 in its previous update.

The AP said fears have grown that Iran could apply the death penalty to arrested protesters, noting that Iranian officials have in the past used charges such as “mohareb” — or “enemies of God” — which carries the death penalty. The AP also said “mohareb” had been used along with other charges to carry out mass executions in 1988 that reportedly killed at least 5,000 people.

U.N. rights chief flags uncertainty over possible executions

At a U.N. Human Rights Council special session on Iran held in Geneva Friday, the AP reported that Volker Türk, the U.N.’s high commissioner for human rights, expressed concern about “contradictory statements from the Iranian authorities about whether those detained in connection with the protests may be executed.”

Türk also told the session that Iran “remains among the top executioner states in the world.” The AP reported that he said at least 1,500 people were reportedly executed last year, a 50% increase over 2024.