Story thread · 5 reports / 3 sources

'Inappropriate to say': Trump may still be considering CIA-led uprising in Iran

middleeasteye.net · 12dShare

'Inappropriate to say': Trump may still be considering CIA-led uprising in Iran US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it "wouldn't be appropriate to say" if he would greenlight the CIA arming Iranians to encourage a violent uprising, a day after he asked on his TruthSocial account, "When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?" Trump was taking unscheduled questions in the Oval Office, after the US unleashed a barrage of strikes on Iran's southern coast on Tuesday, killing 18 people, including two children at a wedding. "Will you send the CIA in to arm Iranians?" a reporter asked the president. "I'd love to tell you that, but it wouldn't be appropriate to say," Trump responded. "But I mean, I understand their plight. They're being shot... They have close to 65,000 protesters killed." It remains unclear where that figure is sourced, given Trump has previously floated figures between 25,000 and 80,000 during the anti-government protests in Iran early this year. Read more

First report: Trump says Iranians won’t rise up because ‘they’re being shot’ and refuses to say if CIA would aid protesters — washingtonexaminer.com, 12d