Trump is signalling Iran’s time may be up

With Trump threatening tariffs and military action, Iran’s regime is feeling the heat

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U.S. President Donald Trump recently ordered a successful military operation to capture the brutal Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. It’s a sign that Trump has run out of patience when it comes to world leaders who threaten the safety and security of democracies like the U.S. He warned the leadership of several totalitarian nations to watch their step going forward—or else.

Could Iran be next? Based on the steady stream of protests that have occurred in this totalitarian regime in recent weeks, it’s certainly possible.

Iran’s nationwide demonstrations began on Dec. 28, 2025, in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, mere days before Maduro was unexpectedly captured. University students then got involved, and internet and phone services were soon cut off. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Crown Prince of Iran and son of the late Shah of Iran, has enthusiastically encouraged their efforts, too.

Close to 2,000 people are reportedly dead as of Monday, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), of which more than 1,850 have been identified as protesters. That’s an unfortunate consequence of the violence involved in fighting back against tyranny. Nevertheless, the demonstrations have intensified over the past two weeks and support for the protests continues to increase by leaps and bounds.

Iran’s currency crisis seems to be fuelling the desire to topple Ayatollah Khamenei and the mullahs who have overseen the bloodthirsty Islamic Republic for decades. “Tehran and much of the rest of the country are running out of water; the economy is in sharp decline,” Alireza Nader and Nik Kowsar wrote in Foreign Policy on Jan. 9, “and more Iranians are going hungry, especially members of what was once the middle and upper-middle classes.” Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Iranian people are desperate to achieve a real measure of freedom, liberty and democracy.

That’s why these demonstrations have been depicted as Iran’s largest uprising since the massive 2022-23 Mahsa Amini protests. As Sky News’s John Sparks recently wrote, “it feels no exaggeration to say this could be the most serious threat to Iran’s leaders since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.”

Will the Iranian protests succeed? They just might. Could they use some help from abroad to achieve that final push? Yes, and Trump may be considering this option.

The U.S. President despises the current Iranian regime. He correctly views the Ayatollah and the mullahs as a major threat to American and international safety and security. He withdrew the U.S. from the controversial Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during his first presidential administration, which he called a “disaster” and “one-sided” arrangement. He knows that Iran was designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. in 1984, fully accepts the State Department’s analysis that Iran has supported “terrorist and militant groups” in the Middle East like Hezbollah, and has “used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to provide support to terrorist organizations, provide cover for associated covert operations, and create instability in the region.” To say nothing of Trump’s revelation that Iran reportedly attempted (and failed) to assassinate him, according to his Sept. 25, 2024, post on X.

Trump would obviously be pleased to see regime change in Iran. Most world leaders in western democratic countries would also like to see this happen. A small number of rogue states and totalitarian nations likely wouldn’t be opposed to it, either.

Is Trump planning to get the U.S. involved in the Iranian protests? This remains to be seen.

He told reporters that he would preemptively strike Iran if they come after the U.S. He’s also going to “immediately” place a 25-per-cent tariff on countries that still do business with Iran, including China.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently said, “we do not want war, but we are completely prepared for it,” and still suggested Iran is prepared to talk to the U.S. based on “mutual respect and interests.”

As White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put it, “what you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages.”

What does this mean? Trump is seemingly ready to act, but the revolving door for negotiations with Iran hasn’t been closed just yet. As for the Iranian regime, they may now privately realize that Trump isn’t fooling around, the U.S. military operation in Venezuela may not be an isolated incident—and they could be next.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.