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US President Donald Trump is weighing broader options toward Iran as protests and violence escalate inside the country, a former White House national security official said on Monday.
Richard Goldberg told Fox News that Trump is responding to mass demonstrations in Iran, killings in the streets and executions “happening right now in secret to try to avoid triggering the president's red line again.”
Goldberg said Trump believes a previous red line has been obliterated, and that he views the Islamic Republic as responsible for American deaths over decades. He cited attacks in Beirut, the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, violence against US forces in Iraq, as well as assassination plots against Trump himself.
He said Trump is building a force to expand available options, including a “decapitation strike,” targeting command, control and communications assets, and pressure points such as oil flows and Iran’s missile program.
Goldberg contrasted Trump’s approach with Barack Obama’s policy toward Tehran, which he criticized as prioritizing a nuclear deal while protests were underway in Iran.
Witnesses in the northeastern Iranian city of Shahrud have told Iran International that at least 200 people were killed over two days of protests, alleging they died at the hands of security forces.
The witnesses reported the deaths occurred on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 8 and 9.
One witness said Ibn Yamin Street was bloodstained on the night of Jan. 19, with visible signs of heavy clashes across the area.
Videos sent to Iran International showed people in Shahrud, in Semnan province, chanting “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return” as they gathered in the streets on Friday night, Jan 9.
Fourteen young people were detained last week after armed plainclothes officers raided a villa outside Tehran where they had gathered to access Starlink internet and update their social media accounts, according to an activist.
The detainees, aged 23 to 38, were blindfolded, handcuffed and shackled, Golshan Fathi said, adding that officers broke cameras and seized equipment including hard drives and screens, and did not present a clear warrant before taking the group to an unknown location.
In short phone calls placed several days later from a private number, detainees were verbally told they were accused of “spying for Israel,” “cooperating with hostile media,” “propaganda against the system,” “attempting to overthrow” the government and “smuggling goods,” an apparent reference to Starlink equipment, she said.
Families have searched for their loved ones in Fashafouyeh, Qarchak and Evin prisons but they have not been told where the detainees are held.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Arab states astride the Persian Gulf would welcome the fall of Iran’s current leadership, arguing that regional governments privately support efforts to replace the ruling system.
Speaking to News Nation, Huckabee said Iran posed a threat not only to the United States and Israel but also to countries across the region.
“I think everybody in the region can’t stand Iran,” Huckabee said. “It’s a threat to not just the US and Israel. Iran is a threat to anybody who would like to see normalization and peace.”
He said governments in the region might avoid saying so publicly because of security concerns, but privately supported change in Tehran.
“They may not say it publicly because they don’t want to become a target, but privately, every single Gulf state would love to see the Iranian people succeed in getting rid of this regime,” Huckabee said.
“Nobody is suggesting that the US put boots on the ground in Iran,” he said. “It’s really a matter of whether we continue the encouragement to the people of Iran.”
He said the possibility of targeted strikes could not be ruled out, but said any such decision would rest with Trump.
“That’s a decision that only the president can make."
Lufthansa will not operate flights to and from Tehran through March 29, a spokeswoman told AFP on Monday, extending a suspension as the German airline group continues to adjust operations in the region.
The spokeswoman said Austrian Airlines, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, would not run flights to Tehran until at least February 16.
Lufthansa said last week it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, but the spokeswoman said a corridor of Iraqi airspace would be used beginning Tuesday, January 20, while Iranian airspace would continue to be avoided.
