While Washington Debates Greenland, Iran Is Bleeding
Two armed members of Iran's police special forces stand guard on an armored military vehicle in downtown Tehran, Jan. 12, 2026.
Photographer: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Even as the world focuses on the future of Greenland, the Trump administration has effectively walked away from events in Iran. Following the largest protests in the country since the 1979 revolution, President Donald Trump put the theocratic regime on notice that further killing of protesters would provoke a US response. He later appeared to accept assurances that the executions had been halted — claims that many observers doubt. Credible human rights organizations believe that thousands, perhaps as many as 5,000 to 10,000 dissenters, have been killed in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, a US carrier strike group, centered on the massive nuclear-powered warship USS Abraham Lincoln and its embarked air wing of nearly 80 combat aircraft, is reportedly heading from the South China Sea to the North Arabian Sea. If the ayatollahs return — as they likely will — to large-scale, indiscriminate killing of protesters, what options are available to the president?