TEHERAN/WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/UNITED NATIONS - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country is ready for war but remains open to dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US military is considering "very strong options" regarding Iran amid recent unrest.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, Araghchi said, "If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it," adding that he hoped the United States would choose dialogue.

He added that communications with US special envoy Steve Witkoff had "continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing."

Araghchi's interview followed Trump's threat to resort to "some very strong options," including potential military action against Iran, in response to Iran's "crackdown" on protesters. Trump told reporters on Sunday that Iranian officials had contacted the United States to propose negotiations, adding that "a meeting is being set up."

Protests have erupted in many Iranian cities since Dec 28. They initially began with Tehran bazaar merchants demonstrating against the sharp devaluation of the national currency rial, and soaring inflation, before spreading to other cities. The unrest has led to casualties among both security forces and civilians.

The unrest has fueled claims by Iranian authorities that the United States and Israel may be behind the scenes.

In his interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi also explained the reason behind Iran's Internet shutdown following the unrest.

"We have recorded voices of individuals giving orders from abroad to terrorist agents, instructing them to fire at police forces and fire at demonstrators if police forces were not present. Their intention was to spread killing," Araghchi said. 

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Meanwhile, Trump said Tuesday that he has cancelled "all meetings" with Iranian officials.

The announcement came one day after the president announced that any country doing business with Iran would pay a tariff rate of 25 percent on any business conducted with the United States.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that diplomacy remains the preferred approach for the US to deal with Iran, though the Trump administration will not rule out military options if necessary. 

Ban on diplomats

Also on Tuesday, Araghchi condemned the European Parliament's decision to ban all Iranian diplomats and representatives from the institutions' premises, vowing that Tehran will reciprocate any restriction.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X one day after European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the decision and claimed that it was made in response to Iran's "crackdown on protesters."

"More than two years of genocide in Gaza that has claimed the lives of 70,000 Palestinians has not led the European Parliament to take any real action against Israel. Even as (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, he freely flies over European airspace," Araghchi said.

"In contrast, it takes only a few days of violent riots in Iran for the European Parliament to physically ban our diplomats," he said.

Russia: US threats unacceptable

Threats from the US to launch military strikes against Iran are "categorically unacceptable", Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Zakharova said Russia strongly condemns the subversive external interference in the internal political processes in Iran.

Iran has for many years been subjected to illegal Western sanctions, which have hampered the country's development and generated economic and social problems affecting ordinary Iranians, she said.

Further sanctions 

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Tuesday that Britain will bring forward legislation "to implement full and further sanctions and sectoral measures" against Iran.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Cooper said, "Further measures will target finance, energy, transport, software, and other significant industries."

UN expresses concerns

The United Nations is concerned about the increase of military-like rhetoric around the situation in Iran, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said Tuesday.

"Of course we're very concerned about the increase of military-like rhetoric that we're seeing around the Iranian situation," Dujarric said at a daily briefing in response to a question posed by Xinhua.

"It is imperative that all (UN) member states push for diplomacy as opposed to military rhetoric," he said.

297 'thugs' detained 

Iran's Public Security Police Chief Seyed Majid Feiz Jafari said Tuesday his forces have detained 297 "thugs" during the recent "riots" in the country.

He made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB news agency, stressing that the detainees were Israel- and US-affiliated organizations involved in inciting "riots" in the country.

The detainees had damaged religious places, government buildings and public property, and looted people's belongings during the "riots," he said.

During the operations to arrest the "thugs," two of them were killed and 17 others injured, he said, adding that over 30 different kinds of weapons and remarkable amounts of explosives were seized from them.