US President Donald Trump is weighing a series of potential military options in Iran following deadly protests in the country, two US officials told
CNN, as he considers following through on his recent threats to strike the Iranian regime should it use lethal force against civilians.
Trump was briefed in recent days on different plans for intervention, the officials told CNN, as violence in the country has led to dozens of deaths and arrests.
A number of options presented to the president have centered on targeting Tehran’s security services being used to tamp down the protests, the US officials said.
Trump said Sunday that Iran called him on Saturday to negotiate.
“The leaders of Iran, they want to negotiate,” he said. “I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States. Iran wants to negotiate with us.”
Trump said his biggest concern is violence against protesters.
“There seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed. These are violent, if you call them leaders. I don’t know if their leaders are just they rule through violence, but we’re looking at it very seriously,” Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. “The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make it determination.”
However, there are concerns inside the administration that military strikes could backfire and undermine the protests. The concerns, the officials said, are that strikes could have the unintended effect of rallying the Iranian people to support the government, or lead Iran to retaliate with military force of its own.
The New York Times was first to report that Trump was briefed on the options.
Trump is also considering a number of options intended to target Iran’s regime that stop short of military strikes, officials said, as he looks to follow through on a vow to help protesters in the country.
The options include cyber operations going after the Iranian military or regime targets, a step that could disrupt efforts to crack down on protests, an official said.
The options also include new sanctions against regime figures, or sectors of Iran’s economy like energy or banking.
