Trump says he and US military weighing 'strong options' on Iran

President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Jan 11) he is weighing a range of responses to escalating unrest in Iran, including possible military options, as massive protests continue to roil the country.

Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a US official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.

"The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options," Trump told reporters travelling on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against "a miscalculation."

"Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target," said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

US ready to help, says Trump

Trump, posting on social media on Saturday, said: "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!"

In a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source present for the conversation.

Some protesters in the United States took to the streets in support of the demonstrators in Iran. In the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Westwood, a rental truck drove into a crowd of a few hundred people who were holding a rally in support of the Iranian protesters, the KNBC news outlet reported on Sunday.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and a prominent voice in the fragmented opposition, said Trump had observed Iranians' "indescribable bravery". "Do not abandon the streets," Pahlavi, who is based in the US, wrote on X.

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