DUBAI – As tensions in the Middle East escalate, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has issued a stark warning. This elite paramilitary force, instrumental in suppressing recent widespread protests that resulted in numerous fatalities, is reportedly prepared to act at a moment’s notice, especially as U.S. naval forces approach the region.

Nournews, a media source linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, conveyed via Telegram that General Mohammad Pakpour cautioned both the United States and Israel against making any strategic errors.

The publication quoted Pakpour stating, “The Islamic Revolutionary Guards and our beloved Iran are more prepared than ever, with our fingers on the trigger, ready to fulfill the orders and directives from our Commander-in-Chief.”

Relations between Iran and the U.S. have remained strained following a harsh reprisal against protesters, sparked by the rapid devaluation of the Iranian rial on December 28. This unrest swept through the nation for nearly two weeks.

Trump’s warnings

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Tehran, setting 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 repeatedly said Iran halted the execution of 800 people detained in the protests. He has not elaborated on the source of the claim — which Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, strongly denied Friday in comments carried by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

On Thursday, Trump said aboard Air Force One that the U.S. was moving warships toward Iran “just in case” he wants to take action.

“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said.

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

Trump also mentioned the multiple rounds of talks American officials had with Iran over its nuclear program before Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June, which also saw U.S. warplanes bomb Iranian nuclear sites. He threatened Iran with military action that would make earlier U.S. strikes against Iranian uranium enrichment sites “look like peanuts.”

“They should have made a deal before we hit them,” Trump said.

Airline jitters

The tension has led at least two European airlines to suspend some flights to the wider region.

Air France cancelled 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 its service to Dubai later Saturday.

Luxair said it had postponed its Saturday flight from Luxembourg to Dubai by 24 hours “in light of ongoing tensions and insecurity affecting the region’s airspace, and in line with measures taken by several other airlines.”

It told the AP it was closely monitoring the situation “and a decision on whether the flight will operate tomorrow will be taken based on the ongoing assessment.”

Arrivals information at Dubai’s international airport also showed the cancellation of Saturday flights from Amsterdam by Dutch carriers KLM and Transavia. The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some KLM flights to Tel Aviv in Israel were also canceled on Friday and Saturday, according to online flight trackers.

Rising death toll

Although there have been no further demonstrations in Iran for days, the death toll reported by activists has continued to rise as information trickles out despite the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iran’s history, which has now lasted more than two weeks.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Saturday put the death toll at 5,137, with the number expected to increase. More than 27,700 people have been arrested, it said.

The group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s government offered its first death toll on Wednesday, saying 3,117 people were killed. It said 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest as “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Samuel Petrequin in Paris, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Konstantin Toropin and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.