WASHINGTON: Former US special envoy for Iran, Elliott Abrams, said President Donald Trump has “painted himself into a corner” over Iran and must act quickly after publicly encouraging Iranians to continue protests. He warned that Trump’s statements have left Washington little time to decide whether — and how — to intervene.
Elliott Abrams had served as a special envoy during the first Trump administration.
Speaking to CNN, Abrams said the situation marked a “very, very critical moment” in US-Iran relations, warning that Trump’s statements implied imminent action.
“When you say ‘help is on the way’, that is pretty stark. It means I’m going to do something,” Abrams said.
He argued that once the US president had openly urged Iranians to keep protesting and to “take over institutions if possible”, Washington could no longer rely on verbal support alone.
“He’s got to act now,” Abrams said. “He’s got a few days to do it, maybe a week at most.”
Calls for action — but not war
Abrams, who advised Trump on Iran during his first term, said outright military strikes on Iran’s missile or nuclear facilities would not help protesters in the streets.
“I would hope he would look at, for example, cyber options that actually hurt the government,” he said.
He added that limited military action could still be considered. “If there are reasonable targets — Revolutionary Guard headquarters and sites — then they are reasonable actions for the president to take,” Abrams said.
Abrams also acknowledged the danger of encouraging protests without follow-through.
“If he acts and demonstrations increase, and then the rebellion is put down and the United States does nothing more, that would be a terrible situation,” Abrams said. He said US officials should have considered this risk before urging further protests.
Nationwide protests in Iran
Protests have spread across Iran in recent weeks, sparked by anger over rising living costs and worsening economic conditions. Authorities have imposed internet restrictions.
Iranian authorities have said that some security personnel have been killed during the protests, showing funerals on state television.
After days of threatening action, Trump appeared to dial back his rhetoric on Wednesday.
He said killings in Iran had stopped and that Tehran had told his administration the arrested protesters would not be executed.
Trump did not rule out military action but said the assurances removed the immediate rationale for intervention.
Earlier, Trump had warned on his Truth Social platform that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters”, the United States “would come to their rescue”.
Reports of inevitable strikes
Despite Trump’s softer tone, Israeli media reported that the US military is preparing for potential strikes on Iran.
Israel’s Channel 12 cited senior US officials as saying a military strike against Iran was now “inevitable”, describing it as a matter of timing rather than possibility.
The report said Washington was actively preparing for action and that US military deployments in the Middle East would reach their “peak” within a week.
In response, Israel has reportedly maintained maximum military readiness, anticipating possible Iranian retaliation after any US strike.
Channel 12 also reported diplomatic friction, quoting a US official as telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “focus on Iran and leave Gaza to us”.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted US special envoy Steve Witkoff as saying: “The Iranians think they are smart, but we are smarter than them.”
No ‘Venezuela option’
Abrams rejected comparisons with Venezuela, where US special forces recently abducted President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York to stand trial.
“There is no snatch-and-grab option in Tehran,” he said.
He said the US still had medium-term options to weaken Tehran, including stricter enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
“That won’t affect today’s demonstrations,” he said, “but the question remains whether there are ways of weakening the regime and its security forces.”
