--- title: Trump's Message to Iran as Tehran Is 'Prepared For War' description: Trump said the U.S. is considering “very strong options” regarding intervention in Iran amid the rising death toll of protesters. canonical: https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/ author: Callum Sutherland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-01-12T12:43:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:51:04.250Z article:section: Politics og:title: Iran 'Prepared for War' as Trump Considers 'Strong Options' og:description: Trump said the U.S. is considering “strong options” regarding intervention in Iran amid rising death toll of protesters. og:url: https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddb400d1ab4777c/6998ccc9e1ba00518398e3fc/GettyImages-2255277125.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5397 og:image:height: 3036 og:image:alt: President Trump Spends Weekend At Mar-a-Lago In Palm Beach, Florida og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Iran 'Prepared for War' as Trump Considers 'Strong Options' twitter:description: Trump said the U.S. is considering “strong options” regarding intervention in Iran amid rising death toll of protesters. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddb400d1ab4777c/6998ccc9e1ba00518398e3fc/GettyImages-2255277125.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Iran Is 'Prepared for War, But Ready to Negotiate' as Trump Considers 'Strong Options' for Intervention > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Callum Sutherland](https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/) ## Callum Sutherland Reporter Jan 12, 2026 12:43 PM UTC  President Donald Trump takes questions from members of the press aboard Air Force One on Jan. 11, 2026. President Donald Trump takes questions from members of the press aboard Air Force One on Jan. 11, 2026. Samuel Corum—Getty Images by [Callum Sutherland](https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/) ## Callum Sutherland Reporter Jan 12, 2026 12:43 PM UTC Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said the country is “prepared for war” amid the deadly protests that have spread across all of Iran’s 31 provinces. “We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war—even more prepared than the previous war,” Araghchi told foreign ambassadors in Tehran on Monday, seemingly referring to the [U.S.-Iran conflict ](https://time.com/7296554/us-strikes-iranian-regime-benefits/)in June last year. During the televised address, Araghchi emphasized that Iran is “also ready for negotiations” but any discussions must be “fair, with equal rights and mutual respect.” Regarding the protests, Araghchi said that “the situation is now under total control” and that the unrest had “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for Trump to intervene. He did not provide evidence pertaining to this. Araghchi’s comments came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump, during a press gaggle on Air Force One, [said the U.S. is considering “very strong options”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=RfIaJSdDnN0) regarding intervention in Iran [amid the rising death toll](https://time.com/7345347/iran-protests-death-toll-estimate-thousands/) as protesters rally against the regime. “There seemed to be some people killed who aren’t supposed to be killed. These are violent ‘leaders’ who rule through violence. We’re looking at it very seriously, the military’s looking at it. We’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters. While Trump doubled down on his previous statements regarding a U.S. intervention, should Iran cross his red line, he also highlighted the possibility of negotiations. “The leaders of Iran called. They want to negotiate. I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” said Trump, seemingly referencing last year’s conflict that saw the U.S. launch air strikes on three nuclear facilities inside Iran after joining Israel’s mission to strangle Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. Trump said a meeting “is being set up,” but warned that the U.S. may well have to “act” before such a sit-down can take place “because of what’s happening.”  Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivers a speech during a press conference at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 22, 2025. Elif Ozturk—Getty Images Concerns continue to mount for Iranians who, as well as facing a crackdown by the regime, are also battling with an Internet blackout that went into place on Thursday, at the behest of the authorities. The protests, that started on Dec. 28 and were initially in response to the declining economic landscape, have grown exponentially, with demonstrators now calling for an end to the authoritarian regime that has ruled since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. While on-the-ground reports remain somewhat limited, [a doctor in Tehran told TIME](https://time.com/7345092/iran-protests-death-toll-regime-crackdown/) on Friday that more than 200 people had been reported dead after the regime opened fire on protesters. As the demonstrations rage on, that number has reportedly grown. An informal, expatriate group of academics and professionals told TIME on Sunday that, per their calculations, protester deaths could have reached 6,000 through Saturday. TIME has been unable to independently verify these figures. **Read More**: [_Death Toll in Iran May Already Be in the Thousands_](https://time.com/7345347/iran-protests-death-toll-estimate-thousands/) The world’s gaze continues to fall upon Iran, and also the U.S., as Trump previously vowed that the Iranian regime led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would “pay hell” if protesters were killed. But it remains to be seen what that could look like—and how it would fare for the United States. One commentator on geopolitics[, in an article for TIME](https://time.com/7345293/trump-iran-protests-military-strike/), maintains that Trump “has no good options” regarding his next steps for Iran. “Washington can help at the margins: targeted sanctions, technology to bypass internet blackouts, diplomatic pressure. What it cannot do is deliver liberation from the sky,” they remarked, arguing that the U.S. is limited in what it can truly do in the fight to liberate Iran. Iran, for the most part, has been clear on its intentions, should the U.S. intervene militarily [as it did in Venezuela](https://time.com/7344640/iran-khamenei-us-trump-venezuela/). “All American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” [said](https://time.com/7345291/iran-protests-trump-strikes/) Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, over the weekend. As of Monday morning, “channels of communication with the United States remain open” both directly and via intermediate negotiations, according to [Foreign Ministry spokesperson](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-says-communication-channels-with-us-still-open-rejects-external-pressure/3796949) Esmaeil Baghaei. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/"},"headline":"Iran Is 'Prepared for War, But Ready to Negotiate' as Trump Considers 'Strong Options' for Intervention","datePublished":"2026-01-12T12:43:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:51:04.250Z","description":"The comments from Tehran come after Trump said the U.S. is considering military intervention in Iran amid the rising death toll of protesters.","url":"https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddb400d1ab4777c/6998ccc9e1ba00518398e3fc/GettyImages-2255277125.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Callum Sutherland","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddb400d1ab4777c/6998ccc9e1ba00518398e3fc/GettyImages-2255277125.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Spends Weekend At Mar-a-Lago In Palm Beach, Florida","caption":"President Trump Spends Weekend At Mar-a-Lago In Palm Beach, Florida","creditText":"Samuel Corum—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7345461/trump-military-intervention-iran-war-threats-death-toll/","name":"Iran Is 'Prepared for War, But Ready to Negotiate' as Trump Considers 'Strong Options' for Intervention"}}]}] ```