{"id":241887,"date":"2026-01-16T20:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/241887\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:54:07","slug":"trump-faces-sharper-questions-over-possible-military-action-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/241887\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump faces sharper questions over possible military action on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House insists all options remain \u201con the table\u201d regarding Iran<\/a>, with the Islamic Republic convulsed by nationwide protests. President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene<\/a> if Tehran\u2019s leadership unleashes greater brutality on demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar<\/a> have launched a diplomatic push<\/a> since Tuesday to de-escalate tensions. The regional allies cautioned Washington<\/a> that an attack on Tehran could trigger a cascade of volatile political and economic consequences across the Middle East. <\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Wednesday to urge the president to forestall military action. <\/p>\n

Trump on Friday confirmed he held off on an attack, but dismissed the notion that it was Arab and Israeli officials who persuaded him to do so. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody convinced me. I convinced myself,\u201d he told reporters at the White House. <\/p>\n

The protests, which began in late December powered by dissatisfaction with Iran\u2019s ailing economy and more general dissent aimed at its theocratic government, have spread to all 31 Iranian provinces. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the country\u2019s attorney general declared that anyone protesting would be deemed \u201can enemy of god,\u201d a charge that carries the death penalty under Iranian law. <\/p>\n

Activists say the crackdown has left at least 2,600 people dead and as many as 18,000 detained<\/a>, though these figures cannot be independently confirmed as a near-total internet blackout in Iran has stanched the flow of data.<\/p>\n

Trump, in a Truth Social post<\/a> on Tuesday, encouraged Iranians to continue protesting and \u201ctake over your institutions.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS,\u201d he added. \u201cHELP IS ON ITS WAY.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked on Friday if help is still on the way, Trump said \u201cwe\u2019re going to see.\u201d Trump asserted that \u201che greatly respects\u201d that Iran halted 800 scheduled executions.<\/p>\n

Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former U.S. Middle East negotiator, says the key question is whether Trump\u2019s rhetoric will be matched by action.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will create a huge gap between his words and his deeds if he doesn\u2019t act,\u201d Miller said in an interview with Military Times. \u201cAnd into this gap will fall a lot of American credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller added that for Trump, as for most American presidents, one core set of calculations is vital when using military action: \u201cThe question is not only can we do it, but should we do it, what are the implications if we do it and do we have an exit ramp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump doesn\u2019t seem to follow that pattern in terms of using American military power,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon began dispatching a number of military assets to the Middle East this week, a U.S. official told Military Times, as the president continues to weigh \u201cvery strong options.\u201d <\/p>\n

It is not immediately clear what specific capabilities were being relocated.<\/p>\n

The USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been conducting routine operations in the South China Sea, appears to have turned west on Thursday, according to satellite imagery, from where it would take nearly a week to reach the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. <\/p>\n

The Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carrier is equipped with F-35C and F\/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.<\/p>\n

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its assets were moved out of the Middle East in November<\/a> for operations near Venezuela. <\/p>\n

A clandestine raid<\/a> reportedly carried out by the Army\u2019s elite Delta Force to capture Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> and his wife from their lair in Caracas involved more than 150 aircraft<\/a>, according to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. <\/p>\n

It would take about two weeks for the Ford Carrier Strike Group to move back within striking distance of Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump still has firepower at his disposal in the region should he choose to authorize an imminent attack, however. This includes an Ohio-class submarine<\/a> in CENTCOM\u2019s area of responsibility.<\/p>\n

Michael Eisenstadt, director of The Washington Institute\u2019s Military and Security Studies Program, said he doesn\u2019t expect a single U.S. strike would be enough to topple the Iranian regime \u2014 but argued a targeted attack could weaken its grip.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe [Trump] is trying for a knockout blow, which I think is an unrealistic quest,\u201d Eisenstadt told Military Times. \u201cBut if he gives them a hard blow, he would make good on his word to avenge the blood that has been shed among the Iranian people by the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White House insists all options remain \u201con the table\u201d regarding Iran, with the Islamic Republic convulsed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[32454,33673,8872,33674,32455,33675,122222,8873,8866,42,87,117779,43,9631,52,40,38,41,39,627],"class_list":["post-241887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-circulated-air-force-times","tag-circulated-army-times","tag-circulated-defense-news","tag-circulated-marine-corps-times","tag-circulated-military-times","tag-circulated-navy-times","tag-defense-department","tag-defense-news","tag-dn-dnr","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-mideast","tag-news","tag-pentagon","tag-protests","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}