US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has dispatched a “big flotilla” towards Iran and is “very closely” monitoring developments. He warned that Tehran would face a “bigger strike than ever” if it plans to execute protestors. His comments came after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared they had their “finger on the trigger” amid mass protests.
‘Big US Force’ Moving In
Speaking aboard Air Force One on his way back to the United States after speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said that maybe they won’t use a naval “armada”, but they’ll keep a close watch on Iran. “We have a lot of ships going that direction. We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens. We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely…,” he told reporters.
Trump added, “837 [people], mostly young men, were going to be hanged on Thursday… I said, if you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iranian nuclear program look like peanuts. An hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they cancelled it… that was a good sign.”
Washington supported and participated in Israel’s 12-day campaign in June, which targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and ballistic missile capabilities.
“But we have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction. Maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see…,” he went on to say.
#WATCH | US President Donald Trump says, “We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens. We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely…”
He adds, “…837 mostly young men were going… pic.twitter.com/KRSM7VPPHq
— ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2026
Protests In Iran
Protests in Iran began in late December, posing a threat to Iran’s leadership under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the United States and Israel of stoking the protests as a “cowardly revenge… for the defeat in the 12-Day War”.
According to an AFP report quoting data released by Iranian officials, 3,117 people had been killed in protests. Although protests appear to have slowed in recent days, human rights organisations warn that the true number of fatalities may be significantly higher.
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