President Donald Trump warned Iran on Jan. 2 that if it moved to crush ongoing protests violently, the United States would respond militarily. These protests are motivated by fury over collapsing living standards. Since Jan. 2, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei‘s regime has only escalated its violent repression.

Although he would be wise to do so in a limited fashion, Trump must now respond militarily. A cyberattack or the imposition of new sanctions on the Iranian regime would not be sufficient responses alone. Trump is also right to rule out negotiations until Iran stops killing its people. Khamenei and the hard-liner faction associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps want to buy time to end the protesters’ challenge. Again, Trump must respond militarily. Failing to do so would relinquish the valuable political capital Trump has earned by his recent seizure of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Put simply, no foreign leader can currently afford to take Trump’s threats as silly rants akin to some of his social media posts. Trump must enforce this red line........

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