How the U.S. Can Support Iran’s Anti-Regime Protests

Experts say U.S. should impose sanctions, ensure access to U.S. government-affiliated radio

As Iranian authorities brace for a second week of anti-government protests, the Trump administration is weighing measures to lend support to the demonstrators.

A hardline critic of the Islamic Republic, President Donald Trump has thus far taken the opposite approach of his predecessor, President Barack Obama, who met Iran's 2009 "Green Movement" with reticence in the hopes of striking a deal on the regime's nuclear program.

Trump has given full-fledged rhetorical support to the anti-regime protesters, but questions remain regarding the actions the administration will take to substantiate the president's statements.

The White House has been tight-lipped on whether Trump will reimpose U.S. sanctions on Iran's nuclear program, which would effectively terminate the pact implemented under the Obama administration. Trump threatened in October to pull out of the agreement if Congress and European allies failed to strengthen its provisions before its re-certification deadline in mid-January. Congress has yet to move on the issue.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Tuesday that Trump is "going to keep all of his option on the table" amid the antigovernment demonstrations. She said the president wants to see the Iranian regime grant its citizens "basic human rights" and stop supporting terrorism.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the administration's messaging approving of the protesters has been "spot on." He acknowledged the risk of the regime using American sentiments of support to undercut the demonstrations as a product of outside meddling, but said the regime will try to smear the protesters as foreign proxies regardless of the facts on the ground.

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