Trump Already Receiving Briefings on Military Strike Options for Iran as Protest Deaths Soar

(Zero Hedge)—The NY Times and others are confirming that President Trump has recently been briefed on a series of new military strike options targeting Iran as he weighs whether to act on his threat to attack the country over its crackdown on protesters, which have also clearly themselves engaged in violent acts in some locales at times.

In some of among the well over 100 cities or towns where protests have raged since the end of December, buildings and even mosques have been burned, cars torched, and police officials reportedly shot and stabbed. Amid an internet blackout across the country, which has made accurate information hard to come by and/or verirfy, there is a battle of narratives and ‘infowar’ happening.

Starlink terminals were said to be smuggled into the country during the 2022 wave of protests, and so there has been some limited information and videos emerging even amid the several consecutive days of internet shutdown by the government.

President Trump during Friday’s meeting of oil executives again warned Iranian leadership not to kill protesters: “I’ve made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved,” he said. “We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

Trump later narrowed the warning, “I tell the Iranian leaders: You better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on top of that issued on X that “The United States supports the brave people of Iran” – something much vaguer and coupled with no specific threat.

From there, unverified reports throughout the weekend said that body bags from protest deaths were piling up. By last week, around 30 people were reported killed, including several or more among police and security officials. But by Sunday into Monday that figure ballooned.

Reuters and CNN have relied on a US-based group to claim, “More than 544 people have been killed over the past 15 days during anti-government demonstrations, including eight children, according to the Human Rights Activist New Agency (HRANA).”

IRAN: Anti-regime protests in Iran, where demonstrators torched the Al-Rasool Mosque in Tehran’s Saadat Abad district. Over 300 similar attacks on religious sites nationwide this evening. pic.twitter.com/N68KoHATT1

— @amuse (@amuse) January 10, 2026

This new, high death count, is unverifiable but is still being widely circulated on Monday. It has been issued at a very sensitive and dangerous moment that the anti-Ayatollah opposition which largely lives in Europe and the United States is lobbying hard to get Trump’s ear and attention.

All the usual other enemies of Tehran are being very active in this regard too, such as the powerful Israel lobby in the United States.

On the ‘options’ briefings, the NY Times has described that briefings President Trump has already received included a variety of potential actions such as strikes against nonmilitary locations in Tehran.

When reporters asked about preparations for possible military action, the White House pointed instead to the president’s recent public statements and posts on social media. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” Trump had additionally stated on Truth Social on Saturday. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”

If Trump were to actually kick off yet more US military action in the Middle East, this time against a large nation like Iran which would hold the serious potential for escalating into a full-blown conflict, it would likely prove deeply unpopular among his base. Broadly, the American public would likely not be on board.

Evidence of a very bloody state clampdown is now starting to come out from people who either have managed to connect to Starlink or who have left Iran and brought videos with them.

But even Iranian State TV is reporting from the morgue, where a large number of body bags can be… pic.twitter.com/QcY2iPYyCp

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) January 11, 2026

A Goldman Sachs note highlights that the build-up rhetoric threatening US intervention in and of itself will have an impact on oil, gold, and across markets:

Attention shifts to Iran as we speak. Unlike the 2022 protests centered around social liberties, this episode looks to be triggered by economic paralysis with inflation spiking and the sudden collapse of the Iranian rial in late Dec. The protests have now turned violent with death toll rising to the hundreds. What can potentially add oil to fire is if foreign interference continues to get talked up with the US signaling the threat of a potential intervention. Oil and Gold creeping up as the Iranian unrests unfold. This illustrates our view of the insurance value of commodities. We see a strong role for broader commodity length in strategic portfolio allocations with increasing geopolitical, trade and AI competition has led to more frequent use of commodity dominance as leverage.

Iranian businesses have in many cased been forced to suspend all activity because of Iran’s internet shutdown, especially those companies which are dealings or staff based abroad. The shutdown is said to be so severe that even the banking system isn’t operating, and something as simple as removing money from an ATM can’t be done.

BREAKING: Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Iran reached out to the U.S. yesterday and proposed holding talks on a nuclear deal. “We may meet them”, he said

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 12, 2026

Leadership in Tehran might have made things much worse for itself with the decision to block internet access, given the protesting and rioting crowds hadn’t dispersed, but instead clashes with police may have grown more intense and violent. Iran’s foreign ministry has been cited in Bloomberg Monday as follows:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says police and security forces brought protests “under control” from Saturday, according to statement to state TV. Araghchi: we have huge amount of evidence pointing direct Israeli and US interference in protests Says internet will be restored “soon after full control of security situation”

“Israel is directly responsible, and also Americans through their remarks by promoting violence,” Araghchi says.

NOW – Trump says Iranian leaders called him yesterday and “they want to negotiate… a meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening, before the meeting.” pic.twitter.com/CF2DC6Pwbg

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 12, 2026

As for what’s next, President Donald Trump will be briefed on Tuesday on “some kinetic and many non-kinetic” options in Iran, according to a couple of unnamed administration officials to Politico. But there have indeed been signs that the protests have begun to abate or in some places been halted completely.