'USA Ready To Help': Trump Briefed On Probable Military Strikes In Iran As Protests Reach 2-Week Mark

New Delhi: Days after the US carried out a large scale military operation in Venezuela to ‘capture’ its President Nicolas Maduro, reports have now emerged that United States President Donald Trump may be considering military strikes in Iran as the Middle Eastern country faces the wrath of protests that is reaching its two-week mark. 

According to a New York Times (NYT) report, Trump has recently been briefed on viable options for military strikes in Iran. This comes after his recent threat to attack Iran for clamping down on its large-scale protests, which has recently ordered internet shutdowns and snapped phone lines. Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad said that anyone participating in these demonstrations would be treated as an "enemy of God", and may be charged with death penalty.

The NYT report mentioned that Trump was considering authorising a strike in Iran, in response to the repressive steps taken to quell down the demonstrations. Trump has been presented with several options, including strikes on nonmilitary sites in Tehran.

According to senior US officials, at least some of the options presented to Trump for Iran would be tied directly to the country's security services that are being used by the Ayatollah regime to put down the protests. The officials also mentioned that the US should be careful that the suggested military strikes do not galvanise the Iranian people to support their government, or start off retaliatory strikes which could pose a risk to US personnel in the region, the NYT report mentioned.

One of the officials reportedly said that the commanders in the region would want more time to consolidate US military positions as well as to be ready to defend themselves in case of possible retaliatory strikes by Iran. The officials said that the suggested military action should balance out Trump’s promise to punish the Ayatollah regime, while also ensuring that the matter does not go out of hand, the report mentioned.

‘US Ready To Help’

Trump's recent posts on Truth Social indicates that he is keenly interested in carrying out strikes in Iran, especially riding on the wave of the successful military operation in Venezuela.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” he posted on Saturday. Hours later, he shared a Fox News news report, stating that protesters scaled the Iranian Embassy in London, tore down the Ayatollah regime's flag and hoisted a pre-revolution symbol.

Trump's Warnings

Donald Trump has been repeatedly threatening to use military force against Iran for the past few days, ever since the protests erupted. On Friday, he said Iran “is in big trouble.”

Earlier on Friday, in response to a question from reporters about US options in Iran amid the protests, Trump said, “Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible. We're watching the situation very carefully. I made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts, and that doesn't mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very hard where it hurts so we don't want that to happen.”

Suggesting air strikes, Trump said, “We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts. So we don’t want that to happen.”

"But this is something pretty incredible that is happening in Iran. It's an amazing thing to watch. They've done a bad job, they have treated their people very badly and now they are being paid back, so let's see what happens. We are watching it very closely".

Speaking about the protesters, Trump said, "I just hope the protestors in Iran are going to be safe because it is a very dangerous place right now and again I tell the Iranian leaders you better not start shooting because we'll start shooting too".

Rubio Calls Netanyahu

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on phone, and held a discussion on the protests in Iran, along with the situation in Syria and a peace deal in Gaza, reports indicated.

Rubio also wrote on a social media account that the United States “supports the brave people of Iran.”

Trump also reshared a post by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was responding to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's post.

“Well said Rubio. This is truly not the Obama administration when it comes to standing up to the Iranian ayatollah and his religious Nazi henchmen, and standing behind the people of Iran protesting for a better life. To the regime leadership: your brutality against the great people of Iran will not go unchallenged. Make Iran Great Again,” Graham said.

The latest plans of military strike comes just six months after Trump carried out Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the US military carried out strikes against three of Iran's nuclear sites in June 2025. In the much publicized operation, six B-2 bombers dropped 12 bunker-buster bombs on a suspected nuclear facility at Iran's Fordo, US Navy submarines fired 30 cruise missiles at nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan, and another B-2 bomber dropped two bunker-buster bombs on Natanz.

The Protests In Iran

The protests in Iran, which started off over the country's weakening currency and rising inflation, have now evolved into a broader anti-government movement calling for the end of the Ayatollah Regime, which has ruled the Middle Eastern country since the 1979 revolution. Demonstrations have now entered their thirteenth day and have spread to at least 100 cities across Iran's 31 provinces.

At least 72 people have been killed and over 2,300 others detained in the protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Despite the Iranian regime trying to cut off the nation from the rest of the world, by ordering internet shutdowns and snapping telephone lines, short online videos shared by activists purportedly showed protesters sloganeering against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in the streets of Tehran, and other cities.

ALSO READ: 'Enemies Of God': Iran Warns Protesters Of Death Penalty As Tensions Escalate; Trump Says 'US Ready To Help'