U.S. President Donald Trump is mulling limited airstrikes on Iranian military and government sites designed to force Tehran to bend its hardline negotiating stance while averting a full-scale offensive that could spark a regional war, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Were Iran to still reject Washington’s demands on its nuclear project, the U.S. military would escalate its campaign, potentially aiming at regime change, the report said.
Such a limited assault could begin within days, the Journal cited sources with knowledge on the matter as saying.
“The people of Iran are very different than the leaders of Iran,” Trump told reporters during a news briefing in the White House.
He went on to assert that the Islamic Republic killed 32,000 people “over a relatively short period of time,” referring to the regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in the country in late December.
“It is a very, very sad situation … they were going to hang … some by crane. They lift them up with a tall crane, and they play them around the square. They were going to hang 837 people. … I feel very badly for the people of Iran, they’ve lived in hell,” the president said.
NEW: Trump says the Islamic regime in Iran killed 32,000 protesters.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) February 20, 2026
"I feel very badly for the people of Iran. They have lived in hell." pic.twitter.com/4YDWqnd78D
Speaking to Fox News on Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that if the Iranians “don’t believe President Trump will do what he says in a military action, then they’re not real smart. And they certainly have a short memory. They don’t remember what happened to them last summer.”
Huckabee stressed that a deal means that Tehran “gets rid of its nuclear enrichment, they don’t have any more aspirations for nuclear weapons, they quit killing their citizens, and they start to lower the inventory of ballistic missiles, and especially the range.”
He added, “If they don’t do that, Trump has said, there is no deal.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Iran:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 20, 2026
If there’s not a deal — and a deal means no nuclear enrichment and no ballistic missile expansion — then there is no deal.
If they don’t believe President Trump will act militarily, they have a short memory. pic.twitter.com/2nX5rd9KEn
Reuters on Friday cited officials from Gulf nations and Israel as saying that an agreement with Iran was less likely than military confrontation.
The U.S. military has amassed its biggest force in the region since the Iraq war in 2003.
Two unnamed Israeli sources told Reuters that the Iran-U.S. gap is too wide for reconciliation, adding that an attack was now the most likely outcome.
However, a senior U.S. official told Axios on Friday that the Trump administration is open to accepting an Iranian proposal that allows for “symbolic” nuclear enrichment if it means that Tehran’s path toward a bomb is closed.
“President Trump will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home. If the Iranians want to prevent an attack, they should give us an offer we can’t refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games, there won’t be a lot of patience,” the U.S. official was quoted as saying.
The Pentagon presented a number of scenarios to Trump, including the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son and possible successor Mojtaba Khamenei and senior mullahs, a senior Trump adviser was cited as saying.
“They have something for every scenario. … What the president chooses no one knows. I don’t think he knows,” the adviser added.
“Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment,” a second adviser told Axios.
There are many within the Trump administration who do not trust the Islamic Republic to honestly renounce its nuclear ambitions, the report said.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a message of defiance.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads ..., but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech televised by Iranian state TV, according to Reuters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran will present a new proposal in the next two to three days.
“What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever,” Araghchi said in an interview with American news channel MS NOW.
He added that Iran would institute “confidence-building measures” in exchange for sanctions relief from the U.S.
