Iran latest: Tehran has 'finger on trigger' after Trump's armada warning

Iran is reportedly ready to negotiate with the US, but only if talks are "genuine".

That's according to the speaker of Tehran's parliament in an interview with CNN.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke to the US outlet, which was allowed into the country with the government's permission to get a limited view of what was happening.

He claimed Iran was ready for talks, but he did not believe the US was as "the kind of talk the president of the United States is after, he just wants to impose [his will on others]."

The office of Iran's supreme leader has released a video referencing possible US strikes on the country.

It opens with a compilation of US officials discussing their strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure last June, before cutting to various speeches made in the past by Ali Khamenei.

The social post is entitled "Allah is sufficient" and calls for people to not fear.

Khamenei and many of his senior officials often post frequently on social media - despite his regime continuing harsh restrictions on internet access for normal Iranians.

"In recent days, actions have taken place that have not been seen elsewhere in the world, even in world wars."

That's what one doctor in Iran tells our international correspondent John Sparks about the regime's brutal crackdown.

He shares some of the horrors he's seen during the violence and how it's bled into hospitals, with law enforcement hunting down protesters seeking medical care.

Watch the report here...

Tomorrow, Europe has a "historic opportunity" to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror group, the president of the European Parliament says.

Roberta Metsola insists the move would be more than just symbolic.

Read her statement here...

A protester in Iran tells Paste BN the government carried out a "massive massacre" during its crackdown on demonstrations.

Speaking on The World With Yalda Hakim, she adds that she "couldn't stay silent" saying: 

"We pray to all gods, [Trump] will do something."

For her own safety, the protester's identity is kept hidden. Watch the full interview here...

Saudi Arabia is in "constant contact" with the US over ongoing developments in the region, an embassy official insists.

A senior official at the embassy in Washington told AP news agency that Saudi Arabia remained aligned with the US, even as it refused to let its airspace be used for any strikes on Iran.

The kingdom has sought to downplay any such divide with the White House and it is one of the nations in contact with both Iran and the US.

Many regionally are hoping diplomacy will prevail and there won't be a repeat of the strikes last June.

China's mission to the UN has called for the US to abandon any "military adventurism" in Iran, saying it will only "push the region into an unpredictable abyss."

Fu Cong, Beijing's ambassador to the UN, addressed the Security Council today regarding the situation in the region.

He warned "war clouds [were] gathering in the Middle East" after the latest threats from Donald Trump.

Cong also stressed that Beijing "opposed interference in other countries' internal affairs".

For context: China has been accused of wanting to meddle in the affairs of another country, Taiwan.

Beijing views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei.

It has offered Taiwan a "one country, two systems" model, but this position is not supported by any mainstream political party.

Many have raised fears it may try and take the land by force.

There are no negotiations under way between Tehran and Washington but the two sides are sharing "indirect messages", an official says.

One of Iran's deputy foreign ministers, Kazem Gharibabadi, says that before any negotiations take place the US "must stop threatening us".

He adds:

"Even if conditions for negotiation existed, given the United States' history of deception, Tehran will maintain complete preparedness for defence."

The comments appear to refer to the US strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure during the 12-day war last June that took place while it was in talks with Tehran.

By Adam Parsons, Middle East correspondent

Europe's most prominent rabbi has told Paste BN he holds Iran responsible for the rise of antisemitism in recent years and believes European countries must do much more to support Iranian protesters in overthrowing the Tehran regime.

Speaking on Holocaust Memorial Day, Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said anger against Jews had grown to dangerous levels, regardless of their views on politics, religion or the war in Gaza.

He said there was the prospect of "antisemitic acts against Jews who live anywhere in the world, who have nothing to do with the Israeli government and nothing to do with Israel".