(Adnkronos) –
Hundreds dead in Iran, where street protests are suppressed in blood. Donald Trump is evaluating a series of military options with the possibility of striking the Tehran regime. “Some protesters died in the stampede, some were shot. I will have a full report and we will make a decision,” the American president said aboard Air Force One en route from Florida to Washington. “Iran threatens to attack our bases? If they do, we will hit them at a level never seen before. We would use considerable force,” Trump said. The president is asked if Iran takes Washington’s threats seriously: “After all we’ve done, that’s a stupid question.”
After yet another day of violence in Iran, the total number of victims would be over 500 since the beginning of the demonstrations. According to the US NGO Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 490 protesters have died, and 48 agents have also lost their lives. Arrests in the country would exceed 10,000.
The foundation of Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, however, denounced “having received absolutely horrific reports of mass shootings against protesters by Iranian government forces.” These shootings, it reads, would have ”caused the death of over two thousand protesters.”
Videos verified by CNN and coming from Tehran province show a crowd of people at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Center trying to identify their loved ones among hundreds of corpses. People are gathered in front of a monitor showing photos of the deceased, and according to the information displayed on the screen, there could be up to 250 bodies.
Another clip from the forensic facility shows bodies in black bags lined up on a sidewalk outside the building, with people gathered around. Cries of anguish are heard, and people are seen weeping next to the bodies. Some bodies are laid out in a dirt area near the building, as families frantically search for their loved ones.
The state news agency Tasnim releases a video with scenes from the forensic medicine institute. The clip shows the agency’s journalist speaking with grieving people who say their relatives were not protesters. A grieving man tearfully tells the journalist that his beloved was hit in the head by a stone and that the victim was pro-government. Speaking to the camera, the journalist states that among the victims are also protesters who “aimed to clash” with security forces or “wanted to seize a military base or something similar and may have used weapons.” “But most of these people were ordinary people and their families are ordinary families,” he adds.
The Iranian government, at the same time, declared three days of national mourning in honor of the victims of the “battle of resistance” against the protests. President Masoud Pezeshkian said he was “deeply moved” by the loss of life and invited Iranians to join the National Resistance March today.
Monday, January 12, will be marked by “national rallies” to denounce the ongoing protests, as reported by the Irna news agency. One of the counter-protests will take place in Enqelab Square, in central Tehran, starting at 2 PM local time. The objective, Iranian media explain, would be to “condemn the actions of rioters and armed terrorists.”
Faced with this scenario – and after the warnings issued in recent days – Trump is examining a series of potential military options, according to information provided to CNN by two officials. The American president has received documents related to possible intervention plans: the evaluations also concern options that do not involve the direct use of military force. The deliberations in the coming hours will be crucial in defining the strategy. A possible attack, however, might not be immediate: the operations to prepare the action would have to be completed entirely, and the procedure would take time.
Within the administration, some fear that a possible raid – perhaps against non-military facilities in Tehran – could harm the protests by inducing part of the population to support the regime. The hypothesis of a reaction from Tehran that could trigger an escalation in the region is not excluded.
The key day could be Tuesday, January 13. Tomorrow, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, Trump will have a briefing with his senior aides on Tuesday to discuss a series of measures to respond to the Iranian crackdown. The ‘menu’ also includes cyber and economic actions.
During the meeting requested by the president with high-ranking administration officials, a comprehensive strategy will be discussed, which also includes strengthening online anti-government sources, the use of cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, the imposition of further sanctions on the regime. Military attacks are also on the table.
The meeting should be attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. According to the WSJ, Trump is not expected to make a final decision during the meeting, as the evaluation is still in an early stage.
A new air attack against Iran would be the second authorized by Trump against the country. In August 2025, B-2 stealth bombers severely damaged three Iranian nuclear sites.
In the mosaic studied by the White House, there is also room for Elon Musk. One of the options under discussion is the possibility of sending Starlink terminals to Iran, a satellite internet service belonging to the magnate, for the first time during the Trump administration.
This solution could help protesters avoid the internet blockade in the country, as has recently happened. Online access in Iran has been blocked for days, as highlighted by the cybersecurity monitoring NGO Netblocks. “Connectivity to the outside world remains at only 1% of its usual level,” the NGO states on X. “The collapse of telecommunications continues to affect the population’s ability to access information and communicate with loved ones,” it is emphasized.
The Trump administration, on the other hand, is also aware that acting in a ‘quasi-symbolic’ way, damaging the regime without truly weakening it, could demoralize the protesters, who are currently convinced that Washington will support them.
