U.S. May Launch "pinpoint Strikes" Against Officials And Military Personnel Involved In The Crackdown On Protests In Iran
- 27.01.2026, 9:04
By the end of this week.
The United States is considering "pinpoint strikes" against senior Iranian officials and commanders believed in Washington to be involved in suppressing protests and killing protesters, a knowledgeable source in a Gulf country told Middle East Eye. According to him, if plans do not change, the strikes could be carried out by the end of this week.
A former U.S. intelligence official told the publication on condition of anonymity that President Donald Trump has not given up on the idea of a change of power in Iran. He made such a conclusion after conversations with representatives of the US administration. In addition, according to the interlocutor (Middle East Eye), Washington has ramped up deliveries of interceptor missiles that could be used in new strikes. Against the backdrop of mass protests in Iran, which began in late December due to economic problems, the US has deployed to the Middle East an aircraft carrier group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, as well as Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems. At the same time, Trump threatened Tehran with "previously unseen" strikes over its brutal crackdown on protests.
The White House chief later said he had "convinced himself" not to hit Iran for now, as the country's authorities called off hundreds of executions of protesters. In an interview with Axios on January 26, he said the situation with Iran was "in the process of change" and Tehran wanted to strike a deal with Washington. The publication's sources in the US administration specified that any deal with the Islamic republic would have to include removing enriched uranium from the country, banning its enrichment, limiting stockpiles of long-range missiles and changing policies to support regional proxy groups.
Iranian authorities have cracked down hard on mass protests in the country. On Jan. 8 and 9 alone, clashes between protesters and security forces could have killed 30,000 people, two senior officials at the republic's health ministry told Time magazine. They said the death toll was so high that emergency services lacked body bags and had to use tractor-trailers instead of ambulances. At the same time, according to official figures announced by Iranian authorities on January 23, 3,117 people were killed in the country. Among them, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, are 2,427 civilians and security forces, as well as 690 "terrorists."