- - Some of the military options Trump could consider on Iran over protests

ANNE FLAHERTY and MARIAM KHANJanuary 13, 2026 at 3:10 AM

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Some of the military options Trump could consider on Iran over protests

After declaring Iran was in "big trouble" and close to crossing a red line over its crackdown on anti-government protests, members of President Donald Trump's national security team were expected to meet at the White House on Tuesday to discuss his options for intervention in the Islamic Republic.

One U.S. official tells ABC News that among the options under consideration are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.

In an online post Monday, Trump said he was already prepared to impose a 25% tariff against "any country doing business with Iran" on "any and all business being done with the United States of America."

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP - PHOTO: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 11, 2026.

Former U.S. officials say other options likely to land on the president’s desk would range from large-scale military attacks to more targeted strikes on specific Iranian leaders or police infrastructure that have helped the Iranian government allegedly violently put down protests.

The U.S. also is likely to consider cyberattacks against the government, as well as online "influence operations" aimed at boosting the messaging of protesters online and undermining the Iranian government.

"I think one thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table and air strikes would be one of the many, many options on the table for the commander in chief. Diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

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At the same time, Leavitt said the Iran regime’s public messaging is different from the private messaging being communicated to the White House. "I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages. However, with that said, the president has shown he's unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary," Leavitt added.

Mick Mulroy, an ABC News contributor who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East at the Pentagon, said the president will likely receive an intelligence assessment on the impact of a direct military strike and whether it could lead to regime change.

"I believe if they chose to move forward [on a military strike] it will be focused on regime targets specific to controlling, or oppressing, the protests," he said. That would include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij forces or other internal security elements, he said, which have been blamed for the deaths of the protestors.

Leavitt said Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is negotiating directly with Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Araghchi on Monday had said Iran is "prepared" for war with the United States but also open to diplomatic negotiations.

The - Iran Protests

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the communication channel between Araghchi and Witkoff "remains open" and "whenever necessary, messages are exchanged through that channel," in remarks made during a televised meeting in Tehran.

ABC News - PHOTO: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks with ABC News while appearing on This Week, May 18, 2025.

He added that "certain points and ideas have been presented by the other side," referring to the U.S. Last Friday, amid reports of protesters being killed in Iran, Trump told reporters that Iran was in "big trouble" and that the government in Tehran "better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting, too.“

"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,” he added.

Aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said Iranian officials had called him over the weekend to negotiate and indicated a potential meeting is in the works. "They want to negotiate. I think they're tired of being beat up by the United States," he added. "We may meet with them. I mean -- a meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what's happening, before the meeting, but a meeting is being set up," Trump said.

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Among those expected to be in attendance on Tuesday are Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The State Department said Rubio spoke by phone this weekend to his counterparts in France and Cyprus to discuss the ongoing protests in Iran. Rubio also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the events unfolding in Iran, an Israeli official told ABC News.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil company executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, January 9, 2026.

The State Department has been posting in Farsi in recent days on X, including one post warning Tehran: "Don't play games with President Trump." But another major military operation in Iran is considered by experts to be less likely by Trump than other options because of the risks involved.

There are currently 30,000 U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, including 2,500 in Iraq and 1,000 in Syria. The Pentagon would likely want to move additional assets to the area to help protect those troops against possible retaliatory strikes.

There are six Navy ships in the region, including three guided missile destroyers, which would be capable of defending troops against ballistic missile threats.

Currently, there is no aircraft carrier in either the Middle East or Europe, with the USS Gerald Ford and its strike group currently in the Caribbean Sea after being moved there from the Mediterranean to help conduct operations in Venezuela.

ABC News' Steve Beynon contributed to this report.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”