Iran Makes Threats As Trump Considers His Options

Last week the Trump administration held of on any kind of military action against Iran after President Trump warned the country not to execute hundreds of dissidents. Trump spoke about this yesterday.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “So with Iran, they were going to hang 837 people…and we let them know that if that happens that it will be a very bad day for them, and they decided not to do it.”

“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future but supposedly they’ve taken that off the… pic.twitter.com/b65E3Yb00A

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 20, 2026

However that’s far from the end of the story. For one thing, while Iran didn’t hang those people, it has by its own admission killed thousands of protesters in the streets.

Iranian state TV has issued the first official death toll from recent protests, saying 3,117 people were killed…

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the death toll at 4,560. The agency has been accurate throughout the years on demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities.

So even by Iran’s estimates the number of people killed is much greater than the number saved last week. Also, the US military has not been idle in the interim. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been called away from the South China Sea and has been heading for the Middle East for several days. It is now approaching “operational range.”

‼️🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. military buildup in the Middle East intensifies as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group heads toward operational range. Trump delayed last week’s strike over defense concerns, but assets are now moving in. Iran warns any attack would provoke severe…

— Defence Journal (@Defence_Journl) January 21, 2026

Aware that the possibility of a strike has reached their doorstep, Iran is going all out threatening a response in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Iran’s foreign minister issued the most direct threat yet Wednesday against the United States after Tehran’s bloody crackdown on protesters, warning the Islamic Republic will be “firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack.”…

Araghchi made the threat in an opinion article published by The Wall Street Journal. In it, the foreign minister contended “the violent phase of the unrest lasted less than 72 hours” and sought again to blame armed demonstrators for the violence. Videos that have slipped out of Iran despite an internet shutdown appear to show security forces repeatedly using live fire to target apparently unarmed protesters, something unaddressed by Araghchi.

“Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack,” Araghchi wrote, referring to the 12-day war launched by Israel on Iran in June. “This isn’t a threat, but a reality I feel I need to convey explicitly, because as a diplomat and a veteran, I abhor war.”

He added: “An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House. It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe.”

There’s some reason to believe that one of the reasons Trump held off on military action previously is that a) we didn’t have a carrier nearby and b) Israel asked him to hold off, possibly because they weren’t ready for an Iranian missile response intended to draw them into the conflict.

Now however, the Abraham Lincoln is almost in place and Israel seems prepared for whatever response Iran attempts.

Israel’s defense establishment has raised its level of alert in recent days amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump may have decided to strike Iran, possibly within days, security officials said.

According to the officials, while there have been no public indications from Washington of such a decision, the defense establishment is taking seriously the possibility that an attack is imminent and is preparing both the home front and military forces for a range of scenarios. At the same time, the Israel Defense Forces said uncertainty remains high.

There’s no clear sign that Trump has made a decision already, but as of yesterday the WSJ was reporting it was still under consideration:

After pulling back from strikes on Iran last week, President Trump is still pressing aides for what he terms “decisive” military options, U.S. officials said, as Iran appears to have tightened its control of the country and targets protesters through a crackdown that has killed thousands.

The discussions are happening while the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier and jet fighters to the Middle East. Those deployments may be the start of a broader buildup that would give Trump the firepower to strike Iran should he choose to use them.

The USS Abraham Lincoln could be in place by Friday so if something is going to happen it probably won’t happen before then.

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