Iran Protests and Repression

President Trump held off on ordering strikes against Iran after phone consultations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked for a delay so Israel could better prepare and because U.S. options were seen as too limited, while the White House and advisers warned a strike might not topple the regime and regional allies urged restraint. At the same time U.S. envoys and Israeli officials sketched possible diplomatic terms — curbs on uranium enrichment, removal of roughly 2,000 kg of enriched uranium, reductions in Iran’s ballistic‑missile inventory and an end to support for regional proxies — even as Gulf states privately lobbied Washington against escalation.

Activists, rights groups and eyewitnesses say Iran’s nationwide protest crackdown has produced mass casualties—with activist tallies varying from several hundred to thousands (HRANA’s latest counts are in the 6,000s, and some unverified sources have claimed far higher), tens of thousands arrested, and circulating morgue and body‑bag footage emerging despite a near‑total internet blackout and state broadcasts of coerced confessions and pro‑government rallies. As Iran signals fast trials and possible executions, Western leaders have warned of consequences and U.S. officials have briefed military, cyber and covert options while the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group has been routed toward the Middle East.