AT A GLANCE
- Donald Trump is weighing military action against Iran over its violent crackdown on antigovernment protests that have killed more than 600 people, but for now is holding off as his administration explores private messages from Tehran seeking talks.
- While no strikes have been ordered, Trump announced 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Iran, marking his first concrete punitive step tied directly to the protest crackdown.
- Senior U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Council leaders, are preparing a range of options for Trump, from diplomacy to possible military strikes.
- Protests continue across Iran despite internet blackouts and mass arrests, as Trump faces pressure from allies to act decisively while also managing crises in Venezuela, Gaza, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
White House Signals Openness to Talks While Keeping Force on the Table
Donald Trump has arrived at a delicate moment as he weighs whether to order a U.S. military response against the Iranian government as it continues a violent crackdown on protests that have left more than 600 people dead and led to the arrests of thousands across the country.
The U.S. president has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration determines the Islamic Republic is using deadly force against antigovernment protesters. It’s a red line that Trump has said he believes Iran is “starting to cross,” leaving him and his national security team weighing what he has described as “very strong options.”
For now, however, the U.S. military which Trump has warned is “locked and loaded” appears to be on standby as the president considers next steps and says Iranian officials have privately signaled interest in talks with the White House.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”
Hours later, Trump announced on social media that he would impose 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran “effective immediately.” The move marked his first concrete action aimed at penalizing Iran for the protest crackdown and reflected his continued use of tariffs as leverage against both allies and adversaries.
China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Brazil and Russia are among the countries that maintain economic ties with Iran. The White House declined to provide additional details about how the tariffs would be implemented or which transactions would be targeted.
While the administration has offered few specifics about Iran’s outreach for talks, Leavitt confirmed that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will play a key role in any engagement with Tehran.
At the same time, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior National Security Council officials began meeting late last week to prepare a range of options for the president. Those options include diplomatic measures as well as potential military strikes, according to a U.S. official familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Trump told reporters Sunday night that a “meeting is being set up” with Iranian officials but warned that developments on the ground could force action before any talks take place. “We’re watching the situation very carefully,” he said.
Demonstrations continue across Iran, though analysts say it remains uncertain how long the protests can be sustained. An internet blackout imposed by Iranian authorities has made it difficult for demonstrators to gauge the scope of the unrest or coordinate nationwide action, according to Vali Nasr, a former State Department adviser and current professor at Johns Hopkins University.
“It makes it very difficult for news from one city or pictures from one city to incense or motivate action in another city,” Nasr said. “The protests are leaderless, they’re organization-less. They are actually genuine eruptions of popular anger. And without leadership and direction and organization, such protests — not just in Iran, but anywhere — are very difficult to sustain.”
The Iran crisis is unfolding as Trump manages several other high-stakes foreign policy challenges. It has been just over a week since U.S. forces conducted a raid that resulted in the arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and his removal from power, while American troops continue to mass in the Caribbean. Trump is also focused on pushing Israel and Hamas toward the next phase of a Gaza peace deal and attempting to broker an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the nearly four-year war in Eastern Europe.
Advocates urging a tougher stance on Iran argue that the current unrest presents a rare opportunity to weaken the theocratic government that has ruled the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The protests, sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency, have grown into one of the most significant challenges to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in years.
Iranian officials, speaking through the country’s parliamentary leadership, have warned that U.S. forces and Israel would be considered “legitimate targets” if Washington uses military force in response to the crackdown.
Some of Trump’s most hawkish allies are pressing him to act decisively. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on social media that Trump should enforce his red lines and avoid repeating what he described as President Barack Obama’s failure to follow through on threats against Syria in 2013.
“It is not enough to say we stand with the people of Iran,” Graham wrote. “The only right answer here is that we act decisively to protect protesters in the street.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich echoed that sentiment, arguing that Western leaders should seize what he called a moment of vulnerability for Iran’s leadership. “In a few weeks either the dictatorship will be gone or the Iranian people will have been defeated and suppressed,” Gingrich wrote in a post on X.
Iran’s government has weathered mass protests before, including the Green Movement after the disputed 2009 election and the “woman, life, freedom” demonstrations that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022.
Trump and his advisers are continuing to review their options, with further discussions expected this week. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the administration risks undermining its own warnings if it fails to act.
“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, noting that Trump has long favored unpredictability in dealing with adversaries. “But flexibility should not bleed into a policy of locking in or bailing out an anti-American regime that is on the ropes at home.”
