"Iran wants to negotiate" Trump increases pressure on Tehran - military and cyber option

In view of the ongoing mass protests in Iran, US President Donald Trump is stepping up his tone. He is talking about possible negotiations with Tehran, but is not ruling out drastic steps.

Keystone-SDA

12.01.2026, 06:55

SDA

In view of the mass protests in Iran against the authoritarian state leadership, US President Donald Trump is increasing the pressure on the Islamic Republic. "Iran wants to negotiate," he told journalists on board the government aircraft Air Force One. A meeting with Iranian representatives may be arranged, he said.

In view of what is happening in Iran, however, the USA may have to act beforehand, Trump warned with regard to the ongoing protests. The President did not elaborate on what Iran would like to discuss with the USA.

Trump: Taking the situation in Iran very seriously

The USA is taking the situation in Iran very seriously, said Trump. "The military is looking at it, and we are looking at some very drastic options. We will make a decision," he said, adding that he was receiving hourly reports on developments in the country. According to the Wall Street Journal, a meeting with senior US officials is planned for Tuesday.

The meeting will discuss possible options, including the strengthening of anti-government online sources, the use of cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites as well as further sanctions against the country's leadership and military strikes. However, Trump is not expected to make a final decision at the meeting, the US newspaper reported. Trump had repeatedly warned Tehran against killing protesters.

Trump considers help for protests with satellite internet

According to his own words, the US President is also considering supporting the demonstrators in Iran with satellite internet. He wanted to speak to tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates the Starlink service, on Sunday (local time). Iran's state leadership has almost completely blocked internet access for the people, and telephone connections also appeared to have stopped working in some cases. This is intended to make communication between the demonstrators more difficult. It is also intended to suppress the publication of reports, photos and videos about the mass protests.

"Iran has called, they want to negotiate," said Trump. They are tired of being beaten by the USA, he said - presumably with a view to the Israeli attacks on the Iranian nuclear program, in which the US military also took part last year. A journalist had initially asked Trump on the plane whether Iran might want to negotiate with the USA again about its controversial nuclear program. However, the reporter then asked in general terms whether Iran wanted to negotiate.

Call for further protests

Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah who was overthrown in 1979, called for the next phase of the uprising "to overthrow the Islamic Republic" in a new message to the protest movement. In addition to the occupation of central streets in cities, all institutions responsible for state propaganda and the interruption of communication are now "legitimate targets", Pahlavi declared on the online platform X. Due to the internet ban, however, it is unclear to what extent his demands will be seen in Iran.

From his exile in the USA, he claims a leading role in the opposition. It is unclear how much support he actually has in Iran.

"The streets are full of blood"

According to activists, the demonstrations have spread to 186 cities. 483 demonstrators have been killed, reported the US-based human rights network HRANA. A total of 544 people have been killed so far, including children and 47 security forces. Around 10,700 people have been arrested, it added. The organization's figures could not be independently verified.

The British broadcaster BBC quoted a source in Tehran on Sunday as saying: "The situation here is very, very bad". The security forces had fired live ammunition. "It's like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They are taking the bodies away in trucks," he said. This information could not initially be verified either.

Guterres calls for an end to violence

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to state violence against the demonstrators. He was "shocked" by the reports of violence, he wrote on X and called for "maximum restraint" by the security forces. EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola encouraged the demonstrators to continue the protests. "To the brave girls, students, men and women on the streets: This is your time," she wrote on social media. She called on the state leadership to initiate a change of course.

Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf had previously accused the protest movement of wanting to create a basis for US military intervention. However, the "enemies" should know that the country's defenders would destroy them, he said, according to a translation by the Iranian propaganda channel Press TV.

Meanwhile, Pahlavi also called on all Iranian embassies and consulates outside Iran to replace the "shameful flag of the Islamic Republic" with the old flag, which was last used during the reign of his father Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. His pro-Western monarchy was overthrown by an Islamic revolution in 1979. The Shah left the country with his family and died abroad.

The old flag was a green-white-red tricolor with a lion and the sun in the middle, a historical symbol of Persia. The Islamic Republic's flag, which is also green, white and red, has a red emblem in the middle that stylizes the Arabic word "Allah" (God). Along the transitions between green and white and between white and red is the phrase "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in white Kufic script.