What a U.S. intervention in Iran could look like as Trump weighs options

U.S. President Donald Trump is readying for a likely intervention in Iran, as the country cracks down on protestors, with several hundreds reportedly killed and internet access cut off.

The possible next steps could include boosting antigovernment sources online, deploying cyber weapons against the Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on the regime as well as military strikes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump’s aides are set to brief him on Tuesday on a possible intervention.

The options being presented to Trump range from targeted strikes inside Iran to offensive cyber attacks, Politico also reported, citing an unnamed official familiar with the ongoing development.

“If the U.S. decides it needs to act to protect personnel or assets, or to protect energy flows, then it has a range of tools, from cyber and sabotage, to drones and missile strikes from air and sea,” said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research.

The U.S. could also attack nuclear or military infrastructure or government facilities to reduce the regime’s abilities and “deter the regime from disruptive actions,” Gertken added.

The unrest in Iran, which started in late December over soaring prices and the collapse of Iran’s currency, has intensified and morphed into wider antigovernment protests that threaten the Islamic regime.

Tehran has over the weekend stepped up action against protestors, with more the 500 people killed, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iran has warned the U.S. and Israel against any intervention, with President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, blaming them for fueling the unrest.

“Iran is far more capable of retaliating against the U.S., especially by attacking regional energy infrastructure,” Gertken said, adding that the Trump administration was “not necessarily eager to destroy the regime” unless it deteriorates “so significantly that the U.S. finds it cannot pass up the opportunity to intervene to force a change of regime.”

Trump’s administration’s playbook often “changes day by day,” but his threats still carry weight as Iran has long been on his agenda and the unrest swells into the “deepest and most widespread protest” in years that the regime does not have under control, Dan Yergin, vice chairman at S&P Global, told CNBC’s “Access Middle East.”

Trump has openly backed Iranian protestors and telegraphed his interest in intervening several times on his Truth Social platform, saying that the U.S. would come to the “rescue” of Iranians if the authorities there continued to kill protesters. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” Trump said in a social media post Saturday.

“We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking…