protests, as US President Donald Trump said Tehran still appeared interested in talks. Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June aimed at degrading Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Trump said Thursday a US naval "armada" was heading toward the Gulf, adding: "We're watching Iran." A fortnight of protests starting in late December shook Iran's clerical leadership under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but the movement has petered out in the face of a crackdown that activists say killed thousands, accompanied by an unprecedented internet blackout. The prospect of immediate American action against Tehran appears to have receded, with both sides insisting on giving diplomacy a chance.

On his way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump told reporters on Air Force One the United States was sending a "massive fleet" toward Iran "just in case." "I'd rather not see anything happen but we're watching them very closely," he added. In a standoff marked by seesawing rhetoric, Trump had on Tuesday warned Iran's leaders the United States would "wipe them off the face of this Earth" if there was any attack on his life in response to a strike targeting Khamenei. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a speech Thursday accused the United States and Israel of stoking the protests as a "cowardly revenge... for the defeat in the 12-Day War". (Bssnews)