Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
president donald trump Senior administration officials will brief him on his options this week In response to widespread anti-government protests in Iran, According to a report.
Trump will be briefed on specific routes on Tuesday response to protestssuggesting he was considering condemning the regime for its crackdown on demonstrators, as he had previously warned. sources revealed Wall Street Journal.
The president will meet with senior administration officials, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegers and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Kaine, to weigh options that include adding anti-government sources online, using covert cyber weapons and imposing more sanctions and military strikes against the regime, the report said.
At least 538 people are expected to die in anti-government protests that began two weeks ago, with more than 10,600 people detained during demonstrations. Associated Press Sunday report.
No final decision on a course of action is expected at the meeting. Wall Street Journal. The speaker of Iran’s parliament warned Trump on Sunday that Tehran would target U.S. bases in the Middle East if Washington intervened, raising concerns about a wider regional conflict.
The Pentagon has not mobilized any forces to prepare for a potential military strike, and the United States recently moved the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its strike group from the Mediterranean to Latin America, leaving no aircraft carriers in the Middle East or Europe.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday warned against an attack on Iran, following Trump Threatens to bomb the country if protesters are killed Demonstrations against his regime.
“The only problem I have with saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to bomb Iran,’ is that sometimes it has the opposite effect,” Paul told ABC News. this week.
“So, when you bomb a country, people tend to rally around their flag. They tend to think it’s – you know, a foreign country coming in to bomb us. So, I don’t think it always has that effect.”
“You know, I want, like the president, I want to succeed. I want the freedom movement to survive,” Paul added.
The US human rights group HRANA reported on Sunday that the death toll had exceeded 500 and more than 10,000 people had been arrested.
They note that reliable information is difficult to obtain during Iran’s nationwide internet blackout. Despite these difficulties, protesters continued to take to the streets of the nation’s capital on Sunday morning.
Online video, possibly transmitted via a Starlink satellite transmitter, reportedly showed protesters gathering in the Punak neighborhood in northern Tehran. Video appeared to show authorities blocking streets and protesters waving cellphones with lights on.
“Protests in the capital have mainly taken the form of dispersed, short-lived and mobile gatherings that have developed in response to the heavy presence of security forces and increased pressure on the ground,” the Human Rights Activists news agency said. “Reports received of surveillance drones hovering overhead and security forces operating around protest sites indicate that surveillance and security controls are ongoing.”
Other footage reportedly taken in Mashhad, Iran’s second city, showed protesters confronting security forces.
At the same time, Trump said on social media US ‘stands ready to help’ Iranians protesting clerical ruleEarlier it warned that the US military would be “loaded and loaded” if demonstrators were killed.
The demonstrations began on December 28 due to the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which has exceeded 1.4 million to the dollar, and the country’s economy is struggling due to international sanctions, partly due to its nuclear program.
In the weeks since, protests have intensified, with some calling for a challenge to Iran’s theocracy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.