Image Credit: JONATHAN ALCORN / Contributor / Getty Images 
A man drove a U-Haul truck through a crowd of demonstrators in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon as a protest was taking place against the Iranian government.
The rally took place in the Westwood neighbourhood, on Veterans Avenue.
Footage posted to social media showed the vehicle driving through the crowd, and police dragging the driver out of the vehicle and arresting him, surrounded by protesters.
US Attorney Bill Essayli said the FBI is investigating the incident.
“FBI is on scene working with LAPD to determine the motive of the driver. This is an active investigation and we will update the public when we have more information,” he said on X.
The protest was held on the fifteenth consecutive day of clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Iran.
President Trump has said he is currently weighing his options for intervention, including the possibility of negotiations with the regime or military strikes.
“Iran wants to negotiate, yes. We might meet with them. A meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what is happening before the meeting, but a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, on Sunday.
Reuters reports that “Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.”
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump added.
“We are ready for war but also for dialogue,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday in a briefing to foreign ambassadors in Tehran.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation.”
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf.
Estimates suggests as many as 500 protesters and 50 security personnel have been killed in the ongoing unrest, with other 10,000 people arrested.
Independent verification of casualties and arrests is impossible at present.
Protests have been documented at 574 locations across 185 cities in all 31 provinces of Iran.
In response to the protests, which have engulfed Iran and seen protesters involved in running battles with security forces in the streets of all the nation’s cities, the Iranian regime has attempted to restrict access to the internet and expanded troop and police deployments.
Images from the protests have shown government buildings and mosques on fire, with protesters chanting “death to the dictator” and “death to Khamenei,” a reference to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
President Trump has repeatedly warned that the US would intervene if the Iranian regime used lethal force against protesters.
On Friday, during a meeting with oil executives at the White House, Trump said Washington is monitoring the situation very closely. He made clear that, although US troops would not be used, he had other ways of punishing the Iranian regime.
“I’ve made this statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved,” Trump said.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reiterated US support for the protesters, posting on X that Washington stands with “the brave people of Iran.” The State Department warned Tehran not to test Trump’s resolve.
