Iran Puts Every US Base And Ship On Strike List—Trump Weighs ‘Very Strong’ Military Options

Iran’s parliamentary chamber descended into chaos on January 11 as lawmakers rushed the podium chanting “Death to America,” while Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a stark warning broadcast live on state television. He declared all American military installations, bases, and vessels in the region would become “legitimate targets” if Washington intervenes in civil unrest that has claimed at least 2,571 lives. The threat of preemptive strikes marks a dangerous escalation as mass demonstrations against the regime enter their second month, with intelligence sources suggesting the actual death toll may exceed 12,000 amid a government-imposed information blackout.

The uprising has swept across all 31 provinces and 186 cities, transforming from initial protests over economic collapse into explicit demands for regime change. Six Tehran hospitals alone documented 217 deaths in a single night from live ammunition, according to sources within Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The Human Rights Activists News Agency confirmed 2,403 protester deaths, 147 government casualties, and 12 children killed as of January 14—already surpassing the combined fatalities of all previous post-revolutionary protest movements.

Currency Catastrophe Ignites Mass Uprising

The crisis erupted after the Iranian rial collapsed to 1.47 million per U.S. dollar on December 28, marking the lowest value ever recorded for any national currency. The rial lost 45 percent of its value throughout 2025 alone, propelling annual inflation to 42.2 percent and rendering basic necessities unaffordable for millions. Since the 1979 revolution, the currency has lost approximately 20,000 percent of its value—a staggering decline reflecting decades of economic mismanagement and international sanctions.

Demonstrators have directly challenged the regime’s foreign policy priorities, chanting “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, may my life be sacrificed for Iran” to protest government spending on proxy militias while citizens suffer economic devastation. A multi-tier exchange system that grants regime-connected firms access to subsidized currency rates while ordinary Iranians face punishing market rates has intensified perceptions of systemic corruption. President Masoud Pezeshkian conceded before protests erupted that “I can’t do anything” regarding economic challenges, underscoring the government’s apparent paralysis.

Information Warfare and Communication Shutdown

Iran imposed a near-total internet shutdown on January 8, reducing national connectivity to effectively zero for over six days. Cloudflare and monitoring organization NetBlocks confirmed the blackout prevents real-time casualty documentation, enabling security forces to conduct door-to-door raids seizing satellite equipment without international witnesses recording the violence. The government has deployed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij paramilitary wing with systematic authorization to use live ammunition against protesters—tactics reminiscent of the November 2019 crackdown that killed an estimated 304 to 1,500 people over four days.

SpaceX began providing free Starlink satellite internet service to Iranian users on January 13, offering what experts describe as “the sole means to disseminate information” during the state-imposed blackout. An estimated 50,000 Starlink receivers now operate throughout Iran, though Tehran has responded with military-grade jamming causing 30 to 80 percent packet loss and has criminalized usage with death penalties. Over 18,100 people have been detained facing charges of “moharebeh” (enmity against God), which carries capital punishment.

Ghalibaf, who commanded Iran’s police from 2000 to 2005 and previously acknowledged ordering officers to fire at student demonstrators, praised Revolutionary Guard and Basij forces for their “resilience.” He asserted during his January 11 parliamentary address that “we will confront them in the harshest manner and penalize those who are detained.”

International Response and Military Calculations

President Donald Trump has been briefed on military strike options targeting locations in Tehran while announcing 25 percent tariffs on countries trading with Iran. He declared America “locked and loaded and ready to go” on January 2, escalating tensions as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deploys overwhelming force nationwide. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated on January 13 that the current crackdown “could be the most violent in Iran’s contemporary history,” surpassing the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests that killed approximately 469 to 550 people over several months.

The European Union announced it would “quickly” propose fresh sanctions targeting individuals involved in the crackdown, adding to over 230 Iranians already sanctioned. Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah overthrown in 1979, called on Iran’s regular army to defect, declaring “You are the national military of Iran, not the military of the Islamic Republic” and assuring demonstrators that “American help was coming” in his January 13 statement.

This unfolds against the backdrop of Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 22, 2025 U.S. military operation that struck Iran’s three primary nuclear facilities, and the Twelve-Day War with Israel during which Israeli forces conducted nearly 360 strikes across 27 provinces, killing over 30 senior IRGC commanders and at least 11 nuclear scientists.

Yet Iran retains considerable ballistic missile capabilities, demonstrated when it launched over 550 missiles and 1,000 suicide drones at Israel during June’s conflict. Iranian missiles struck a U.S. base in Qatar during that confrontation, confirming the credibility of Ghalibaf’s parliamentary threats against American military facilities. The combination of escalating rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran, alongside Iran’s warning it would “act based on any clear signs of threat” rather than wait for attack, creates dangerous conditions for miscalculation that could trigger wider regional conflict affecting critical energy infrastructure and American personnel throughout the Middle East.