When Trump announced that Iran's government had "called to negotiate," it appeared there might be a diplomatic off-ramp to the escalating crisis unfolding in Tehran. Yet behind the scenes, far from the rhetoric of negotiation, the Pentagon was preparing something altogether different—military options being quietly examined as the Islamic Republic descended into what observers are calling its darkest period in recent memory.
The scale of the unrest sweeping across Iran remains difficult to quantify precisely, though figures from the Human Rights Activist News Agency paint a grim picture. Nearly 500 protesters have reportedly been killed during the past three weeks of nationwide demonstrations, according to the US-based rights group.
