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US President Donald Trump entreated Iran’s demonstrators to continue their movement and “take over the institutions”, promising “support is on its skill”
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US may consider military or cyber actions to support Iranian protesters
Iran likely to retaliate with missiles, cyberattacks, or proxy groups if struck
US strikes unlikely to cause Iran regime change; Pahlavi’s return improbable
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and US President Donald Trump. (AP File)
Amid the mounting unrest in Iran, United States Donald Trump, on Truth Social, proclaimed that “help is on its way”.
US Senator Lindsey Graham later suggested that Trump’s reference to “support” could include military or cyber actions, adding to speculation over Washington’s next steps. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told closed-door meetings that the administration is also weighing non-kinetic options to support protesters, including cyber measures, according to Axios.
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What will happen if the US actually strikes Iran? What will Iran do? Will there be a change of regime? Will Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah and a prominent voice in the fragmented opposition, return?
Iran crisis: The protests & US response
The Islamic Republic’s clerical authorities are facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022 and on Sunday a rights group said that the unrest has killed more than 500 people. An Iranian official indicated on Tuesday the number was higher, at around 2,000. “This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a assertion read out by UN rights map of job spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Iran is determined to gaze extra brutality because the administration has determined to enact its first protester on Wednesday amid mass arrests of anti-regime protesters, The Fresh York Post reported, citing human rights groups. Erfan Soltani, 26, is allegedly scheduled to be hanged to loss of life after his arrest at some stage in the protests in Karaj closing Thursday (native time), the Iran Human Rights (IHR) and National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFD) NGO groups said. The NUFD reported that the man’s “most attention-grabbing crime is soliciting for freedom for Iran”.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency report on Monday, at the end of the 17th day, a total of 614 protest gatherings had been recorded nationwide. These demonstrations took place in 187 cities and covered all 31 provinces of the country. The detention of 18,434 individuals has been confirmed. The agency also said, the deaths of 2,403 protesters have been confirmed. Among those killed were 12 children, 147 members of security forces and government supporters, including at least five civilian supporters of the government.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials “until the senseless killing of protesters stops”. He additionally entreated demonstrators to continue their movement and “take over your institutions,” remarks that Tehran has described as open interference in its internal affairs.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said his administration was seeking verified information on the scale of the killings and would respond accordingly. “The killing looks like it’s significant, but we don’t know yet for certain… we’ll act based on what we learn,” he said, while urging Iran’s leaders to “demonstrate humanity” and warning against further bloodshed.
Tehran has strongly responded, with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accusing the US and Israel of being the “main killers of the people of Iran”, naming Trump and Israeli Top Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in step with the president’s social media post.
Iran’s defence minister warned that any aggression may perchance perchance perchance be met with a “forceful” response, including strikes on US military installations in the region and on Israel.
When asked about Iran’s possibility to retaliate in the match of US strikes, Trump brushed aside the warning, announcing Tehran “better behave”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had on Sunday asked Trump to “manage his cling nation” instead of commenting on Iran’s internal affairs. In a message posted on X, Khamenei accused the US President of encouraging unrest in Iran while failing to address serious problems at home. “The President of the United States declared that if the Iranian government did this or that, he would side with the rioters. The rioters have placed their hopes in him. If he is so competent, let him manage his own country then,” Khamenei wrote.
Search recordsdata from 1. How will Iran retaliate? How?
If the US strikes Iran militarily, Tehran is extremely no longer inclined to shut passive, even supposing it tries to limit escalation.
In step with analysts, several layers of response are that that you just can perchance judge of:
- Iran has a colossal short- and mid-differ missile arsenal and has outmoded missiles against U.S. forces sooner than. Retaliation against bases in Iraq, Syria, the Gulf, or naval belongings is a most critical possibility.
- Iran can also activate allies take care of Hezbollah (Lebanon), Kataib Hezbollah (Iraq), and the Houthis (Yemen) to strike US pursuits, Israeli targets, or allied infrastructure at some stage in the Center East.
- Iran can also deploy mines, dinky craft, or missiles to disrupt or threaten navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global energy gives.
- Tehran has invested closely in cyber capabilities. Assaults on U.S. civilian infrastructure (energy, water, financial systems) are plausible and must composed map off usual disruption with out bid militia engagement.
- Centered assassinations, sabotage campaigns, or strengthen for global fright cells were outmoded historically and must composed resurface as uneven retaliation.
Search recordsdata from 2: Can a US strike map off regime commerce in Iran?
Consultants command the Iranian voice and Modern Guard are extremely resilient and bask in survived sanctions, covert action, proxy wars, and bombings for decades. Consultants command strikes by myself are no longer inclined to dismantle the regime’s construction. Militia blows can also toughen hardliners who argue that resisting U.S. stress is the principle to regime legitimacy.
Mass protests since 2025 bask in already challenged the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, but they lack unified management and a determined political roadmap. Iranian energy structures (safety forces, IRGC, clerical establishment) are deeply entrenched; even in classes of unrest, and so that they weather upheaval.
Right transformation would seemingly require major internal political shifts, defections, and sustained mass mobilisation.
Search recordsdata from 3: Will the Pahlavi monarchy return?
White Dwelling envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend met with Reza Pahlavi to talk concerning the protests roiling that nation, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified senior US legit. In distinction backdrop, Trump has issued a series of strangely bid messages to every the Iranian management and protesters.
Reza Pahlavi on Tuesday (native time) appealed to protesters and the nation’s protection pressure, inserting forward that the realm no longer most attention-grabbing seen and heard the demonstrators’ braveness and relate but is additionally “taking action”. He urged citizens to sustain the movement against the Khamenei regime and warned that those responsible for violence would eventually be held accountable.
In a video message shared on X, Pahlavi said Trump had responded to the protests, asserting that the voices of Iranians were being heard beyond the country’s borders.
Addressing protesters directly, he said, “My compatriots, as I told you in my previous message, the world not only saw and heard your courage and voice but is taking action. By now, you have undoubtedly heard the message from the President of the United States. Help is on the way.”
Many Iranians, on the different hand, survey monarchy as one other make of authoritarian rule rather than a democratic different. Moreover, there is no determined constitutional framework or energy construction exists for reinstating a monarchy. Pahlavi has miniature political influence internal Iran due to the exile and the power of present institutions. Significant global powers (at the side of the U.S.) are cautious about endorsing a monarchy because it may perchance be viewed as international-imposed management, which historically backfires as a legitimacy field.
Search recordsdata from 4: How would a US strike affect the realm?
Gulf states, at the side of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, bask in warned against strikes due to the fears of escalation. Russia and other powers publicly oppose external intervention, elevating dangers of broader geopolitical stand-offs.
Ruptures in the Strait of Hormuz or elevated oil sign volatility can also disrupt global energy markets.
Significant powers take care of China, Russia, and the EU can also honest survey unilateral action as destabilising, doubtlessly fracturing global coalitions and non-proliferation regimes.
With Agency Inputs
First Printed:
January 14, 2026, 13:14 IST
Facts explainers Will US Strike Iran? How Will Khamenei Retaliate? Will Pahlavi Be Help? Key Questions Answered
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