US President Donald Trump has in recent days been briefed on new military strike options against Iran, as he weighs whether to follow through on his threat to respond to the regime’s violent crackdown on protesters, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing multiple US officials familiar with the discussions.
Officials said the President has not made a final decision but is seriously considering authorizing a strike in response to Iran’s suppression of demonstrations sparked by widespread economic grievances. He has been presented with a range of possibilities, including potential strikes on nonmilitary sites in Tehran, the officials told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When asked about preparations for possible strikes, the White House pointed to the President’s recent public statements.
Trump has repeatedly warned Iran’s leadership in recent days against shooting protesters.
On Thursday, in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump said, “What they've done in the past, they've started shooting the hell out of people. And all of a sudden, people without any weapons whatsoever standing there and get machine guns, gunning them down, or they grab, take them to prisons and then hang them and kill them. So they played rough. And I said, if they do that, we're going to hit them very hard. We're going to hit them hard."
Trump added, “We're ready to do it. If they do that, we're going to hit them hard. And so far, for the most part, there's been some of it, but for the most part, they haven't. There have been people killed. Some of them, the crowds are so big that some of them have had, were stomped on. Literally. It was terrible."
“We'll see what happens. There's so many people protesting. Nobody's ever seen anything like what's happening right now. But I have put Iran on notice that if they start shooting at them..if they do anything bad to these people, we're going to hit them very hard."
A day later, Trump repeated his warnings, telling reporters in the White House, "Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We're watching the situation very carefully."
The President said he had delivered a strong message to Tehran, cautioning against a repeat of past crackdowns. "If they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We'll be hitting them very hard where it hurts," he stressed.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!"
Senior US officials said some of the options under consideration for Iran would target elements of the regime’s security services responsible for violently suppressing protests. At the same time, they cautioned that any strike must avoid rallying the Iranian public around the government or triggering retaliation that could endanger US personnel in the region.
The New York Times report comes as the mass anti-government protests in Iran continue, as well as the regime's crackdown on the protesters.
Informed sources told Iran International on Saturday night that Iranian security forces are using lethal force against protesters across the country, with early estimates pointing to mass casualties as a sweeping crackdown intensifies under a near-total internet shutdown.
According to the news website, even the most conservative estimates indicate that at least 2,000 people have been killed in the past 48 hours.