A wild bull elephant killed a tourist in central Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park on Monday, a park official said, the third fatality linked to the same animal.

The 65-year-old Thai tourist from Lopburi province was out for a morning walk with his wife when he was trampled to death by an elephant named Oyewan, national park chief Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP.

His wife managed to escape after park rangers scared the animal away, Chaiya said.

“He was the third person killed by Oyewan,” he said, adding that the wild bull elephant could have been responsible for several more deaths that remain unsolved.

Chaiya said authorities will meet on Friday to decide what to do with the elephant.

“We will probably decide to relocate him or change his behaviour,” he said, without elaborating.

More than 220 people, including tourists, have been killed by wild elephants since 2012, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

Wild elephant numbers in Thailand rose from 334 in 2015 to almost 800 last year, prompting authorities to administer contraceptive vaccines to female animals in an effort to control their ballooning population.

An elephant killed a Spanish tourist while she was bathing the animal at a sanctuary in southern Thailand in January last year.

Another tourist was killed by an elephant at a national park in Loei province in northern Thailand in December 2024.

• Iran prepares framework for nuclear negotiations in days.
• Regional players relay messages between sides for talks.
• Tehran rejects ultimatums, seeks sanctions lifting in deal.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, local media said Monday, after US leader Donald Trump said he was hopeful of a deal to avert military action against the Islamic republic.

Following the Iranian authorities’ response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

While piling pressure on Iran, Trump has maintained he is hopeful of making a deal and Tehran has also insisted it wants diplomacy while vowing an unbridled response to any aggression.

“President Pezeshkian has ordered the opening of talks with the United States,” the news agency Fars reported on Monday, citing an unnamed government source.

“Iran and the United States will hold talks on the nuclear file,” Fars said, without specifying a date. The report was also carried by the government newspaper Iran and the reformist daily Shargh.

Iran said earlier Monday it was working on a method and framework for negotiations that would be ready in the coming days, with messages between the two sides relayed through regional players.

“Several points have been addressed and we are examining and finalising the details of each stage in the diplomatic process, which we hope to conclude in the coming days,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, without giving details on the content of any negotiations.

Trump had warned “time is running out” for Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

But Baqaei said Tehran “never accepts ultimatums” and that he could not confirm any such message was received.

Regional players have pushed for diplomacy to defuse tensions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Turkey last week and held further calls with his Egyptian, Saudi and Turkish counterparts, he said on Telegram.

“President Trump said no nuclear weapons, and we fully agree. We fully agree with that. That could be a very good deal,” Araghchi told CNN on Sunday.

“Of course, in return, we expect sanctions lifting. So, that deal is possible. Let’s do not talk about impossible things.”

Baqaei said the rallying of neighbouring states around a diplomatic solution demonstrated a fear any US attack would drag the region into conflict, echoing Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who warned on Sunday a US attack would trigger a “regional war”.

Ambassadors summoned

The supreme leader also likened the recent protests to a “coup” attempt.

Authorities have said the protests, which were sparked by economic strain and exploded in size and intensity over several days in early January, were “riots” inflamed by its arch foes the United States and Israel.

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published the names of 2,986 people out of the 3,117 whom authorities said were killed in the unrest.

Authorities insist most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.

The crackdown prompted the European Union to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, with Iranian lawmakers retaliating on Sunday by slapping the same designation on European armies.

Baqaei said Monday the foreign ministry had summoned all the EU member state ambassadors in Tehran over the designation, and that other responses were to come.

Iranian state television also announced four foreigners had been arrested in Tehran for “participation in riots”, without specifying their nationalities.

Authorities have continued to announce arrests, with rights groups estimating at least 40,000 people have been detained over the protests.

Following the Iranian authorities’ deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a “coup”, warning that a US attack would trigger a broad conflict.

“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” he said, telling Iranians they “should not be scared” of Trump’s rhetoric.

“They (rioters) attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Holy Quran… It was like a coup,” Khamenei said, adding that “the coup was suppressed”.

Asked about the Iranian leader’s warning, Trump told reporters on Sunday: “Of course he is going to say that.

“Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” he said.

The demonstrations in Iran began as an expression of discontent at the high cost of living, but grew into a mass anti-government movement that the country’s leaders have described as “riots” stoked by the United States and Israel.

Iranian authorities nonetheless ordered the release of detained 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani on bail, his lawyer said on Sunday, after Washington warned he was on death row and threatened an attack if any anti-government demonstrators were executed.

He was arrested in January for what Iran’s judiciary said were charges of propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system and acting against national security.

Washington had warned he was due to be executed, though Tehran said he had never been sentenced to death and that the charges against him did not carry the death penalty.

As tensions heightened between Iran and the United States, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said he was concerned about “miscalculations” but said he believed Trump was “wise enough to make the correct decision”.

He said Iran has lost trust in the United States as a negotiating partner, adding that some countries in the region were acting as intermediaries to rebuild trust.

“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” he said in an interview with CNN.

‘Terrorist’ designations

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published a list of 2,986 names out of the 3,117 that authorities said were killed in the unrest.

Of the total, 131 have yet to be identified but their details will be released soon, it said in a statement.

Authorities insist most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.

However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it has confirmed 6,842 deaths, mostly protesters.

The response prompted the European Union to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, with Iranian lawmakers retaliating on Sunday by slapping the same designation on European armies.

Lawmakers wore the green uniform of the Guards in a display of solidarity at the legislative session, where they chanted “Death to America”, “Death to Israel” and “Shame on you, Europe”, state television footage showed.

It remained unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

The step matched similar classifications enacted by the United States, Canada and Australia.

Threats and dialogue

Firouzeh, a 43-year-old homemaker who declined to give her full name, said the recent tensions had left her “very worried and scared”.

“Lately, all I do is watch the news until I fall asleep. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to check the updates,” she said.

IRGC official Ahmad Vahidi was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying “enemies” sought to create a “war atmosphere”.

But Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday: “Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.”

Trump also confirmed that dialogue was taking place, but without withdrawing his earlier threats, adding “we’ll see what happens”.

The US president previously said he believed Iran would make a deal over its nuclear and missile programmes rather than face military action.

Tehran, meanwhile, has said it is ready for nuclear talks if its missile and defence capabilities are not on the agenda.