Iran Protests Grow as U.S. Warns of Retaliation (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Since the US captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, President Trump has been warning a long list of countries, including Iran. Nationwide protests there against a cost-of-living crisis are ramping up. And President Trump has warned that Iran will get hit hard by the US if protesters are killed. CNN's Paula Hancox has the latest.

[00:00:23] Speaker 2: A female protester is dragged from a street in Tehran. Demonstrators run for cover as gunfire is heard in Malakshahi, a city in Iran's western Ilan province. It is a familiar and brutal response to nationwide protests, now in their second week. The Iranian currency is collapsing, inflation rising, and the cost of living becoming hard to bear. Shopkeepers, traders, and students on the streets blame government mismanagement. Officials say publicly they are willing to talk.

[00:00:59] Speaker 3: The government is trying to be more amenable to dialogue. President Pesashkhan has offered to mediate and engage. He's acknowledged responsibility.

[00:01:11] Speaker 2: But as the president offers dialogue, the security forces are cracking down, attacking protesters holed up in this hospital in Ilan. Social media footage shows forces inside looking for injured protesters and those trying to hide. The US State Department said, quote, the assault on the injured with tear gas and live ammunition is a blatant crime against humanity. The US president has already threatened to step in if protesters are killed.

[00:01:45] Speaker 4: We're watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard by the United States.

[00:01:54] Speaker 2: A move against the Iranian regime that Israel's prime minister has been encouraging.

[00:02:01] Speaker 5: Actions or statements raised by figures such as the prime minister of the Zionist regime or some radical American officials regarding Iran's internal affairs amount, under international norms, to nothing more than incitement to violence, incitement to terrorism, and incitement to killing.

[00:02:18] Speaker 2: US military attacks on Venezuela over the weekend and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro will be watched closely in Tehran.

[00:02:28] Speaker 3: I think Venezuela adds icing to a really clearly baked cake for Iran. The Islamic Republic has learned the hard way that President Trump is unpredictable.

[00:02:41] Speaker 2: Although the Supreme Leader, Hayatollah Ali Khamenei, does still have some support, there are increasing calls for his removal, both inside and outside the country. Paula Hancock's CNN Abu Dhabi.

[00:02:56] Speaker 6: We're closely watching yet another country that Trump is now threatening, Iran. There's video here on the screen of anti-government protests today. What you're looking at are the protests themselves. There were gas canisters thrown. Protesters were clashing with security forces. Trump threatening that the US, in his words, is locked and loaded if Iran kills protesters. Rights groups saying at least 29 people have been killed since protests began last week over economic fears. Up front now, retired four-star General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command during Trump's first term. And General, I'm really grateful for the opportunity to speak with you again. President Trump has warned Iran, and I'll read the full quote, we are locked and loaded and ready to go if Iran kills protesters. Now, as of tonight, General, human rights groups say that 29 protesters are dead. So what do you think happens here?

[00:03:50] Speaker 7: Yeah, thanks, Erin. It's great to be with you again. Well, I think the president certainly is using the informational element of national power here to send a message to the Iranian people and to the Iranian regime. And I think that is what he is definitely focused on. He's trying to send a message of support to the protesters and a message of warning to the regime. There are a wide variety of options that the United States could consider here. I don't know what the specific threshold is that the administration has in mind for deaths on the ground. But again, there are a variety of different options, everything from deploying to re-established posture and deterrence to actually conducting strikes, to providing support for opposition elements, to sharing intelligence with some of our partners or conducting maybe cyber or covert operations to make things more difficult for the regime. So there's lots of options that the president has. And I think right now we're using the informational element of power here to put a lot of pressure on the regime.

[00:05:00] Speaker 6: And I know, General, you're laying out a lot of options that make a lot of sense. Of course, we're in a world that's very shaken now by what just happened to Maduro. And obviously during the operation last summer, when Israel had said they could take out the Supreme Leader, they didn't, but then he was hiding in the bunker, right? We've got to now put on the table of, has the whole game changed? Has the red lines moved? Could something happen here of taking out the Supreme Leader or taking out the president of Iran? I mean, do you think such a thing is on the table for the president?

[00:05:30] Speaker 7: Well, I don't know. I don't know what all of the options are, but certainly I think going after key leaders would probably be something that at least would be discussed in a wide variety of military options. I think the one thing that I think is important for people to appreciate is that, while we've just seen a stunning military operation down in Caracas by our special operations forces, expertly executed with a high degree of precision and success, every situation really presents its own challenges. So trying to do what was done in Caracas, there's an element of, an aggravated element of difficulty trying to do something like that in Tehran. So you have to look at the situation on the ground here and try to match the military options to the situation and the effects that we're trying to create.

[00:06:26] Speaker 6: General Votel, I'm grateful for your time and thank you so much for your perspective, sir.