Pockets of protests erupting across Iran over the past week have intensified pressure on a dysfunctional government struggling to manage a spiraling economic crisis.
But a dramatic US military operation more than 7,000 miles away looms even larger over the Islamic Republic. Iran woke up over the weekend to dramatic scenes of US forces landing in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to capture Tehran’s ally, President Nicolás Maduro. He and his wife were dragged out of their bedroom in a brazen nighttime operation and taken to the United States.
On Monday, Trump issued his second threat to Iran in less than a week, warning again that if authorities kill protesters, the US would respond.
The Iranian leadership, already grappling with internal unrest and multiple crises, is now confronting the prospect of renewed US military action after its nuclear sites were targeted last summer — an escalation driven by an emboldened US president who has also threatened other adversaries in the wake of the Venezuela attack.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Monday.
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