Republican lawmakers warn Iran against killing protesters

Protests continued into the evening in Rasht, Gilan province in northern Iran, on Wednesday, according to videos sent to Iran International.

The footage shows protesters chanting slogans including “Until the cleric is shrouded, this homeland will not become a homeland” and “Pahlavi will return.”

Iran may not be Venezuela, but the Islamic Republic may at its most vulnerable point in its near 50-year existence as pressure builds from the streets, foreign intelligence services and inside the clerical establishment, analysts told Iran International.

The question now confronting Washington is whether Donald Trump will stick to pressure and covert tools or move toward a more dramatic confrontation.

US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a daring, deadly raid over the weekend and launched a surprise attack on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Drawing on that record, Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Vice Provost and Dean at Missouri University of Science and Technology and a longtime scholar of Iranian politics, described a president inclined toward targeted operations rather than large deployments.

Trump, he explained, “prefers low risk and no boots on the ground model of a surgical attack.”

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday told reporters that US military attacks on Venezuela and Iran came after they refused sincere efforts by President Donald Trump to reach deals sought by Washington.

With respect to Iran, the president ... tried to have serious interest in a deal with the Iranian regime with respect to their nuclear capabilities," she said.

"They were not interested so operation Midnight Hammer happened which was another remarkable military success under the leadership of this commander in chief."

The June 22 attack on three Iranian nuclear facilities capped off a surprise military campaign launched by Israel after two months of US-Iran talks over its disputed nuclear deal stalled.

A large crowd of protesters was seen moving through the streets during protests in Abadan, in Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran, according to videos sent to Iran International.

The footage shows protesters chanting slogans against the government, including “Death to the dictator” and “Pahlavi will return.”

US Senator Ted Cruz says Iran’s ruling system has been “fatally weakened,” arguing that recent protests and military setbacks have left Tehran more vulnerable than ever.

Speaking to Iran International, Cruz said he supports Iranians protesting against what he described as a “tyrannical” and “theocratic” rule.

"The Ayatollah is a zealot. He is a murderer, and I think the regime is fatally weakened as a consequence of losing the war," he added.

“For a self-proclaimed supreme leader, losing a war to Israel weakens the regime profoundly.”