President Donald Trump is weighing whether to order a U.S. military response against Iran as the Islamic Republic continues a violent crackdown on protests that have left more than 600 dead and led to the arrests of thousands across the country, the Associated Press reported Jan. 13.
The White House has tied the moment to Trump’s repeated warnings to Tehran that the use of deadly force against antigovernment protesters would cross a “red line,” and the administration said it is now assessing messages it is receiving from Iran privately. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that “What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” and she said, “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary.”
Leavitt added that “nobody knows that better than Iran,” as Trump considered next steps. AP reported that the U.S. military appeared, at least for the moment, to be placed on standby mode while Trump sought out Tehran’s outreach for talks.
Hours after the comments, Trump announced on social media that he would slap 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran “effective immediately,” presenting the move as his first action aimed at penalizing Iran for the protest crackdown. AP reported that the White House declined to offer further comment or details about the tariff announcement, and said Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff would be a key player engaging Tehran.
Internally, AP reported that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop a “suite of options,” ranging from a diplomatic approach to military strikes that would be presented to Trump in the coming days, according to a U.S. official familiar with the deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump told reporters Sunday evening that a meeting is being set up with Iranian officials but cautioned that “we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting,” adding, “We’re watching the situation very carefully.” AP said the White House has offered scant details on Iran’s outreach for talks.
Outside the immediate decision-making, analysts told AP that it remains unclear how long protesters can sustain demonstrations. Vali Nasr, a former State Department adviser and now a Johns Hopkins professor of international affairs and Middle East studies, said an internet blackout imposed by Tehran makes it hard for protesters in one city to understand how widespread the demonstrations are in other cities. Nasr said the protests are “leaderless” and “organization-less,” describing them as “genuine eruptions of popular anger,” and said that without leadership and organization such protests are difficult to sustain.
AP reported that Trump is also handling other foreign policy emergencies, including continued U.S. troop deployments in the Caribbean Sea after a raid to remove Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, efforts related to a Gaza peace deal involving Israel and Hamas, and steps aimed at brokering an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war in Eastern Europe.
Some of Trump’s hawkish allies in Washington urged him to act, arguing Iran’s vulnerability creates a narrow window. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on social media Monday that it is “not enough to say we stand with the people of Iran,” and that “The only right answer here is that we act decisively to protect protesters in the street — and that we’re not Obama — proving to them we will not tolerate their slaughter without action,” AP reported. AP also reported that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an X post that “the goal of every Western leader should be to destroy the Iranian dictatorship at this moment of its vulnerability,” and wrote “There is no middle ground.”
The warning from Tehran added pressure to the U.S. debate, AP reported. Iran’s parliamentary speaker said the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told AP that there is “a fast-diminishing value to official statements by the president promising to hold the regime accountable, but then staying on the sidelines.” Taleblu said Trump has sought “maximum flexibility rooted in unpredictability” but argued that “flexibility should not bleed into a policy of locking in or bailing out an anti-American regime which is on the ropes at home and has a bounty on the president’s head abroad.”