Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger,” amid heightened tensions with the United States as US warships head toward the Middle East.

Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC, warned the United States and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation,” according to Nournews, a media outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guards and dear Iran stand more ready than ever, finger on the trigger, to execute the orders and directives of the Commander-in-Chief,” Nournews quoted Pakpour as saying on Saturday.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have surged following a violent crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran that erupted on Dec 28 after the collapse of the Iranian currency, the rial. The demonstrations, which spread across the country for about two weeks, were met with a heavy security response.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Iran, setting what he described as two red lines for possible military action: the killing of peaceful protesters and the mass execution of detainees arrested during the unrest.

Trump has claimed that Iran halted the execution of 800 people detained in the protests, though he did not disclose the source of the information. Iran’s top prosecutor Mohammad Movahedi strongly denied the claim on Friday in comments carried by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said the United States was deploying warships toward Iran “just in case” he decides to take action.

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

A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships were operating in the Indian Ocean.

The rising tensions have begun to affect international travel. France’s Air France said it temporarily suspended flights to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, canceling two return flights from Paris over the weekend due to the regional situation. The airline said services would resume later on Saturday.

Dubai International Airport’s arrivals board also showed cancellations of flights from Amsterdam by Dutch carriers KLM and Transavia, and from Luxembourg by Luxair. The airlines did not immediately comment. Some KLM flights to Tel Aviv were also canceled on Friday and Saturday, according to flight-tracking data.

Although no new demonstrations have been reported in Iran for several days, the death toll from the crackdown continues to rise as information emerges despite what activists describe as the most extensive internet blackout in Iran’s history, now lasting more than two weeks.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Saturday put the death toll at 5,137, with more than 27,700 people arrested. The group said the figures are likely to increase and are based on verification by a network of activists inside Iran. The toll would mark the deadliest unrest in the country in decades, recalling the turmoil of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s government on Wednesday released its first official figures, saying 3,117 people were killed, including 2,427 civilians and members of the security forces, while labeling the rest as “terrorists.” Critics and rights groups have previously accused Iranian authorities of undercounting casualties during periods of unrest.