The Trump administration is preparing for possible cyber attacks against Iran to punish the regime for killing hundreds of protesters.
The US president has been presented with military options to attack but has been warned by officials that it is too early.
US media reported that officials would on Tuesday give Mr Trump options for a number of non-lethal measures, including amplifying anti-government criticism online and deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, are expected to attend the briefing.
Commanders in the region have told officials that they need to “consolidate US military positions and prepare defences” before carrying out any military strikes against security services responsible for the bloody crackdown on demonstrations.
Mr Trump has threatened to “get involved” in the unrest threatening to topple the Iranian regime, warning that he would hit Iran “very, very hard, where it hurts” if security forces continued killing protesters.
Mr Trump has threatened to “get involved” in the unrest threatening to topple the Iranian regime, warning that he would hit Iran “very, very hard, where it hurts” if security forces continued killing protesters.
At least 538 people have been killed, including security officials, while some 10,600 have been detained during two weeks of unrest.
The real death toll is thought to be considerably higher as details of the crackdown have been obscured by an internet blackout. The Trump administration is also considering sending Starlink terminals to Iran, satellite internet nodes that would help activists skirt the communication ban.
Footage emerged on Sunday morning purporting to show live ammunition being used against protesters in the town of Abyek, north-west of Tehran.
Senior regime officials suggested that protesters should face the death penalty, while another likened them to terrorists.
On Sunday, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, warned the White House against a “miscalculation”.
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate targets,” said the former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Two American C-17A military transport planes departed Germany and appeared to be heading for the Middle East on Saturday evening, as speculation mounted about a potential strike.
The New York Times quoted US officials as saying that any military action would need to be carefully weighed to avoid galvanising public support for the regime.
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