Donald Trump 'has decided' to help Iranian protesters, after regime kills hundreds in brutal crackdown
The protests were sparked last week by soaring inflation, and have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran
US President Donald Trump "has decided" to help protesters in Iran, but has not yet decided the "when" or the "how".
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Discussions have been ongoing in Washington to determine what role the US will play in assisting protesters in Iran, with several options on the table, as the death toll continues to rise.
The protests were sparked last week by soaring inflation, and have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran.
Protesters are now calling for an end to the clerical rule of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and have included chants in support of Iran’s pre-revolution leader.
"Trump has essentially decided to help the protesters in Iran. What he has not yet decided is the 'how' and the 'when'," sources familiar with the discussions told The Jerusalem Post.
"The spectrum ranges from a military option, namely strikes against regime targets, to cyber support against the regime, to providing Starlink systems to help protesters.
"While the Trump administration does not believe that the Iranian regime is collapsing, it definitely sees problems and cracks that did not exist a week ago."
The Wall Street Journal has also said Mr Trump will be briefed on Tuesday about the response options.
The Post added that Trump administration was pushed to consider intervention following reports of an internet blackout, harsh repression measures, and the number of protesters involved.
It hadn't considered that the protests would cause the regime to panic until this weekend.
Read more: 'Help is on the way': Republican Senator says Iran's 'long nightmare is soon coming to a close'
More than 500 protesters are believed to have been killed and 10,000 people arrested during the ongoing unrest in Iran.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) is reporting that 538 people have been killed as a result of protests across the Islamic Republic.
Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has blamed the protests on "terrorists" connected to foreign powers, which are looking to "sow chaos and disorder" by "ordering riots".
The state-run IRNA news agency is reporting that there will be "nationwide rallies" on Monday to denounce the protests.
23-year-old fashion student Rubina Aminian has been named as one of hundreds killed in the regime's crackdown on protesters.
She was shot in the back of the head on the evening of Thursday, January 8, after leaving Shariati College in Tehran and joining protest gatherings.
Rubina has been described by those close to her as "a young woman full of joy for life and passionate about fashion and clothing design, whose dreams were buried by the violent repression of the Islamic Republic."
Members of her family travelled from Kermanshah to Tehran to identify her body, but, they were not allowed to take her body with them.
Sources close to the Aminian family told Iran Human Rights: “The family was taken to a location near the college where they were confronted with the bodies of hundreds of young people killed during the protests.
"Most of the victims were young people between 18 and 22 years old, who had been shot at close range in the head and neck by government forces. At first, the family was not allowed to identify Rubina’s body, and later they were not permitted to take her body with them.
"The family was forced to search among the bodies themselves to identify their daughter, and they undoubtedly saw many of the bodies of young people killed during the protests.
“After much struggle, Rubina’s family eventually managed to retrieve her body and return to Kermanshah. However, upon arrival, they found that intelligence forces had surrounded their home and that they were not allowed to bury her.”
Her mother said: “It wasn’t just my daughter; I saw hundreds of bodies with my own eyes."
Rubina's family were forced to bury her body along the road and they have not been permitted to hold any mourning ceremonies.
A group of Anglo-Iranian women has called on the Government to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the Tehran regime’s violent crackdown on protests continues.
Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street in central London, where they demanded the IRGC be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
The special armed forces organisation has already been heavily sanctioned in recent years, but there are growing calls for the Prime Minister to go further.
Laila Jazayeri, director of the Association of Anglo-Iranian Women in the UK, said the IRGC had already gone too far.
Speaking at the demonstration on Sunday, she told the Press Association: “The Prime Minister should prescribe the deadly force IRGC, that is killing people inside Iran.”
She said: “There is no need for military intervention. There is no need for boots on the ground.
“Iranian people are capable of bringing the regime down.
“The protesters are empty-handed. They are dealing with heavily armed security forces in some towns and cities.
“But the regime hasn’t been able to send the protesters back home. Why? Because there is a network of resistance.”
Most information coming out of the country is through Starlink satellite transmitters after the regime restricted internet access, and Ms Jazayeri said the UK Government could do more to get Iranians back online.
“The regime has shut down the internet to kill in silence. (The UK Government) should help get access to internet for the Iranian people,” she said.
Iran’s attorney general has said anyone caught protesting, or even helping protesters, could be charged with being “an enemy of God” – which is punished with the death penalty.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, has suggested that any military action taken by America would be met with retaliation.
In a stark warning to the supreme leader, President Trump said the US would “hit them very hard” if the Iranian authorities continued to massacre protestors.
He wrote on Truth Social on Saturday evening: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Mr Trump also confirmed that US intelligence suggests the Iranian leader is planning to flee the country if protests continue.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Saturday evening that Iran's "long nightmare" is coming to an end and that "help is on the way".
The Senator for South Carolina took to social media to reaffirm that the United States supports the protests, adding that "protestors in Iran must prevail over the ayatollah".
Mr Graham added that the "bravery and determination to end your oppression" has been noticed by President Donald Trump and "all who love freedom".