The image shows a bird\u2019s-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck.<\/b>
\nArab Emirates Iranian authorities unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in a central Tehran square on Sunday with a direct warning to the United States to not attempt a military strike on the country, as U.S. warships head to the region.
The image shows a bird\u2019s-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck. The deck is strewn with bodies and streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned across one corner: \u201cIf you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.\u201d
The unveiling of the mural in Enghelab Square comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying warships move toward the region. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the ships are being moved \u201cjust in case\u201d he decides to take action.
\u201cWe have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won\u2019t have to use it,\u201d Trump said Thursday.
Enghelab Square is used for gatherings called by the state and authorities change its mural based on national occasions. On Saturday, the commander of Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that his force is \u201cmore ready than ever, finger on the trigger.\u201d
Tension between the U.S. and Iran has spiked in the wake of a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that saw thousands of people killed and tens of thousands arrested. Trump had threatened military action if Iran continued to kill peaceful protesters or carried out mass executions of those detained.
There have been no further protests for days and Trump claimed recently that Tehran had halted the planned execution of about 800 arrested protesters \u2014 a claim Iran\u2019s top prosecutor called \u201ccompletely false.\u201d
But Trump has indicated he is keeping his options open, saying on Thursday that any military action would make last June\u2019s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites \u201clook like peanuts.\u201d
U.S. Central Command said on social media that its Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Middle East, noting the fighter jet \u201cenhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability.\u201d
Similarly, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar \u201cin a defensive capacity.\u201d
The protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran\u2019s theocracy, which does not tolerate dissent.
The death toll reported by activists has continued to rise since the end of the demonstrations, as information trickles out despite a more than two-week internet blackout \u2014 the most comprehensive in Iran\u2019s history.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death toll at 5,529, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,200 people have been arrested.
The group\u2019s 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\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the toll.<\/p>\n