As citizen protests against the Iranian government continue to grow throughout Iran, the U.S. is moving closer to getting involved. Over the weekend, the Iranian government cracked down further on the protests, resulting in more than 500 reported deaths. President Trump has repeatedly warned the Iranian government that they would face U.S. action if protesters were killed. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said Iran is "starting to" cross a red line with its latest crackdown, and added that Iranian leaders have called to negotiate ahead of any possible action.
While Trump continues to keep Iran guessing, he is reportedly meeting with the top members of his national security team---Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine---to discuss what actions the U.S. could take. "There are various things we can do," says Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, in an interview with Fox News. "We can already conduct cyber attacks against regime targets to give some reprieve to the Iranian protesters, we can get Starlink in there with Elon Musk to make sure the Iranian people have the ability to communicate with each other during this blackout by the regime."
"And, the United States can initiate military strikes against IRGC---that's the military wing that's protecting the regime right now," she continues. "We can conduct strikes against them, or we can go against other military targets, like their ballistic missile program or their nuclear program, as well."
Heinrichs also questions whether Trump will wait until after the briefing to act. "This briefing that's supposed to happen might in fact be part of a deception campaign," she says. "It would not surprise me if President Trump initiated some kind of U.S. activity to support the protesters before that briefing."
With protests in Iran getting more violent, Americans have been urged by the Trump Administration to get out of the country.
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