According to U.S. officials on Monday, President Donald Trump is considering diplomatic options with Iran while considering whether to launch an attack to try to stop its leaders from killing additional demonstrators.
More strike options than previously disclosed are being presented to Trump by the Pentagon. According to a U.S. official, potential targets include ballistic missile installations and Iran's nuclear program, which goes beyond the U.S. warplanes that pounded it in June.
However, the insider stated that the more limited options a cyberattack or a strike against Iran's domestic security apparatus, which is employing deadly force against protesters are more plausible.
According to the official, any attack is at least a few days away and might result in a forceful reprisal from Iran. On Tuesday, Trump is expected to receive an options briefing.
Airstrikes are "one of the many, many options that are on the table," according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, but "diplomacy is always the first option for the president." "What you're hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately," she said.
That implied that the Iranian government's belligerent public statements about the United States since Trump's original threats of a new strike were more intense than the private letters the administration has received.
After declaring this month that he would support demonstrators if the Iranian government used deadly force against them, Trump told reporters on Sunday night that it seemed Iran had passed his red line.
In a social media statement on Monday afternoon, Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on "any and all business" that nations that trade with Iran do with the United States. How or if this would be implemented is unknown.
Iranian officials stated on Monday that they were prepared to have another conversation with the Trump administration, which seemed to moderate some of their recent anti-American language.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated at a gathering of foreign ambassadors in Tehran's capital, "We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war even more prepared than the previous war," as seen on official television.
He seemed to be alluding to the June 12-day conflict with Israel, in which the US supported Israel in bombing Iran's nuclear installations.
