US President Donald Trump announced that America "stands ready to help" since Iran "is looking at freedom," in a post on Truth Social on Saturday.
Admin officials have had preliminary discussions about how to carry out an attack on Iran if needed to follow through on Trump's threats. One option being discussed is a large-scale aerial strike on multiple Iranian military targets, sources told The Wall Street Journal in an article published on Saturday.
One official told The Wall Street Journal that an aerial strike on Iranian military assets was among the options under discussion. Another said there was no unified consensus on whether the administration would strike or what course of action to take, and that the US military had not made any moves in preparation for a strike.
Both officials told The Wall Street Journal that the administration was not planning an imminent attack on Iran, and that the discussions were part of normal planning.
Trump previously stated that if the Iranian regime forces "start killing people," the US will "hit them really hard" during an interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Thursday.
IRGC forces arrest foreigner accused of spying for Israel
Iran's Revolutionary Guards' intelligence wing said it had arrested a foreigner suspected of spying for Israel, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
Protests have spread across Iran since December 28 in response to soaring inflation and quickly turning political, with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule. Authorities accuse the US and Israel of fomenting unrest.
The Iranian army said that it would “firmly safeguard national interests, strategic infrastructure, and public property. It also blamed Israel and so-called terrorist groups for the protests, and vowed to “thwart the enemy’s plots.”