Trump weighing new, major action against Iran, including regime change - Sam Halpern

 

by Sam Halpern

US strikes on Iran would reportedly be conducted to give the protesters confidence that they could seize government and security buildings.

 

 

US President Donald Trump is considering strikes on Iranian regime leaders and security forces to inspire protesters in the country and create conditions for “regime change,” two American sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday morning.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN News also reported earlier on Thursday that Israeli sources believed Trump was indicating a broad action against Iran that would include regime change.

Sources also told CNN that day that the president was again weighing a major strike after talks between the US and Iran had failed to produce results.

The report comes after two sources told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that attempts by several countries, including Turkey, Oman, and Qatar, to mediate between Washington and Tehran had thus far not yielded results.

One of the sources said the main message the mediating countries had delivered to Iran was: “Act rationally. Give President Trump something so that war can be avoided.”

U.S. President Donald Trump points a finger as he speaks during a roundtable on antifa, an anti-fascist movement he designated a domestic ''terrorist organization'' via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 8, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

US demands Iran end enrichment, missiles, and proxy ties

According to US and European officials who spoke to The New York Times on Wednesday, the US made three demands of Iran: a permanent end to uranium enrichment, limiting the number and range of its ballistic missiles, and an end to support for regional terror proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

The warning came as Trump wrote on social media that day another armada was heading towards the Islamic Republic and that if Iran did not come to the table and agree to a nuclear deal with the US, Washington may execute another attack “with speed and violence.”

The President warned that time was “running out” for Iran and that an additional strike against the country would be “far worse” than the one the US conducted in Operation Midnight Hammer during the June 2025 Israel-Iran war.

In the Thursday comments to Reuters, the US sources said Trump was considering attacks on commanders and institutions the US saw as responsible for violence against the protesters, who are now in their second month of demonstrations across the country.

The strikes would reportedly be conducted to give the protesters confidence that they could seize government and security buildings.

According to the sources, Trump was also considering a larger strike, possibly against the country’s ballistic missiles, but he had not yet come to a decision on a course of action.

Sam Halpern

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-884934

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