Will Washington Learn the Lessons of Tiananmen in Tehran?
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Left: President Donald Trump at the White House, November 17, 2025. Right: Cars burn in a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters; Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
If he chooses to stand by while Iran burns, Donald Trump runs the risk of repeating his predecessors’ mistakes.
On January 2, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to warn Iran’s leaders not to crack down on snowballing protests: “If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The Iranian regime evidently brushed off the threat. According to reports filtering out of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, perhaps in conjunction with Iraqi militias, have killed thousands of Iranian protesters.
Trump now faces a choice: He can repeat the ...
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The Iranians may be able to cajole Trump into negotiations, but they will never be able to push him around, and they disregard his threats at their peril.
