White House explores options for strikes on Iran, balancing risks — CNN
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump is considering some potential military options in Iran after the death toll from protests began to rise. But no real action is planned yet, as there are certain concerns, CNN reports.
Two sources in the US administration said that due to the growing number of victims of the protests, the White House is considering the possibility of carrying out its threats to strike the Iranian regime of the ayatollahs. Washington threatened to do so if the Iranian regime used lethal force against protesters.
Trump has been informed of various options for intervention, as attempts to suppress the protests in Iran have led to at least dozens of deaths and several thousand 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 agency writes.
However, no real action has been taken yet, as there are certain concerns within the US administration. One of them is that the strikes could backfire and undermine the protests instead of strengthening them.
The attacks could have an unpredictable effect, uniting the Iranian people in the face of an external enemy and strengthening support for the government. Another trigger for the White House is the fear that Iran could respond with military force, also with unpredictable consequences.
Meanwhile, according to the American human rights organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 116 people have been killed during the crackdown on large-scale protests. The Iranian authorities have also carried out mass arrests of protesters, with thousands of people reportedly detained by the regime.
The protests in Iran have been the most massive since 2022, triggered by a sharp drop in the national currency and the worsening economic crisis. However, the economic slogans quickly turned political.
At the beginning of the unrest in Iran, US President Donald Trump reacted angrily to its suppression, confirming a little later that the United States was ready to help the Iranian people fighting for freedom. But it is still unclear whether Washington is really ready for a conflict with the Iranian regime of the ayatollahs.
