As anti-government protests have gained momentum across Iran, the US president has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration discovers that the Islamic Republic is using lethal force to quell the unrest. It’s a red line that Trump has said he believes Iran is “beginning to cross” and has left him and his national security team weighing “very strong options.”
Protesters block a road in Tehran.Credit: fake images
But the US military – which Trump has warned Tehran is “ready and prepared” – appears, at least for the moment, to have been put on standby as Trump mulls his next steps, saying Iranian officials want to have talks with the White House.
“What you hear publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration receives privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
“However, that being said, the president has shown that he is not afraid to use military options when he deems it necessary, and no one knows this better than Iran.”
Hours later, Trump announced on social media that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran “effective immediately.”
China, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, Brazil and Russia are among the economies that do business with Tehran.
The White House has offered few details about Iran’s approach to talks, but Leavitt confirmed that the president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be a key player in engaging Tehran.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and key White House National Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop a “set of options” from a diplomatic approach to military strikes to present to Trump in the coming days, according to a U.S. official familiar with the administration’s internal deliberations.
The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite intensifying repression in Tehran.Credit: AP
Can the protests be sustained?
Demonstrations continue, but analysts say it is still unclear how long protesters will remain on the streets.
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government protesters to the streets on Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests that challenged the country’s theocracy. Iranian state television showed images of protesters crowding Tehran towards Enghelab Square in the capital.
An Internet blackout imposed by Tehran makes it difficult for protesters to understand how widespread the demonstrations have become, said Vali Nasr, a former State Department adviser and now a professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.
“It makes it very difficult for news from one city or images from one city to anger or motivate action in another city,” Nasr said.
Charging
“The protests have no leaders or organization. In reality they are authentic eruptions of popular anger. And without leadership, direction and organization, these types of protests, not only in Iran, but throughout the world, find it very difficult to sustain themselves.”
The demonstrations are the largest Iran has seen in years: protests spurred by the collapse of the Iranian currency that have become a bigger test for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s repressive regime.
with AP
