President Donald Trump has already warned Iranian leadership that if innocent lives are taken amid continued anti-government protests, the United States would step in.
Iran then announced that there would be public hangings, which the country's leadership later decided to cancel.
Trump thanked Iran for halting the executions, but the ongoing tensions are far from eased, and some Republicans are looking to take action against the current regime.
Protests in Iran have been going on for weeks.
The uprising started in response to the country's collapsing currency, then it escalated to include students and local business owners, which is when Iranian leadership began meeting the protesters with force.
On Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei finally admitted to the “inhuman, savage” killing of protesters, but he blamed the deaths on Trump.
Trump responded by saying it was time for new leadership in the country, adding, "What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before. Leadership is about respect, not fear and death."
It was recently announced that a 26-year-old protester was about to be publicly executed, which brought about a call for action from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
He declared, "I read with great sadness and heartache about the pending execution of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old shopkeeper. He is facing death at the hands of the ayatollah simply for protesting in the street for a better life. His family is calling on the world to come to their son’s aid.”
Graham continued, "I hope and pray that the execution does not go forward and this young man does not forfeit his life because he wants to live in freedom without fear. This regime must fall, and the Iranian people must have a better life."
Even though Graham is despised by MAGA, he has remained a close and trusted advisor to Trump, and the two of them appear to be on the same page when it comes to this particular matter.
This weekend, Iran announced that it would cancel the hundreds of public executions that had already been scheduled, which drew a surprising response from Trump.
The president stated, "I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!"
This was an extremely measured response from the president, as typically, he would have said that Iranian leaders bent to his will or were scared of him, or something along those lines, so you can see that the tone here is a very cautious one, so as not to provoke the leadership into reversing its decision.
While Trump has publicly tread carefully, he has significantly increased tariffs against any nation doing business with Iran, hoping to squeeze both Iran and its allies financially to encourage regime change without having to put boots on the ground to make it happen.
