'You just can't tweet here': Graham urges Trump to lay out Iran strategy

Students attend a protest inside Tehran University. Photo / AP

US Senator Lindsey Graham, (R), called on President Donald Trump to lay out his strategy towards Iran as the country faces its largest protests in nearly 10 years.

He said that such a move would help bolster the US in its conflict with North Korea.

Predicting that the new year will be one of "opportunity and extreme danger," Graham said Trump should withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018 and give a national address explaining his approach.

He warned that North Korea is watching how the US conducts itself as protests continue in Iran. He argued that Trump's supportive messages for the Iranian people on Twitter are an inadequate response.

"President Trump is tweeting very sympathetically to the Iranian people, but you just can't tweet here. You have to lay out a plan. If I were President Trump, I'd lay out a plan as to how I would engage the regime," Graham said on CBS

Graham warned that the US has a chance to "deliver some fatal blows to really bad actors" in the new year, but that the international situation is precarious.

"If we blink, God help us all," he said.

The protests began last Friday NZT in response to economic woes in Iran, where growth unrelated to renewed oil exports has lagged significantly since international sanctions were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal.

As the protests spread, demonstrators have used them to highlight a variety of other problems, including government corruption and the need for reforms.

The escalating unrest poses a challenge for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who appealed to reformists when he was re-elected in May by a landslide. Some have interpreted the protests as a response to Rouhani's failure to deliver on key economic promises he made after the nuclear deal.

The last major wave of protests followed Iran's disputed presidential election in 2009.

Graham spoke after two Iranian demonstrators were confirmed killed in the protests. Local media reported that about 200 people were arrested in Tehran yesterday and showed images of police firing a water cannon at demonstrators in the city centre.

On my feed (and in my household), there has been fierce debate around this question of what, if anything, the USG should say in response to turmoil in Iran. I come down somewhere in the middle...

— Suzanne Maloney (@MaloneySuzanne) December 31, 2017

Today, Iranian authorities blocked Instagram and the popular messaging app Telegram. Their intention was to "maintain peace," according to state television, but protesters saw the move as a direct crackdown on their efforts, which have been fuelled by publicity on social media.

Trump has tweeted several times in support of the demonstrators, writing that the United States is "watching very closely for human rights violations".

"Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism," Trump wrote. "Looks like they will not take it any longer."

Graham, who said it's "not enough to watch" and post on Twitter, called the protests evidence of former President Barack Obama's foreign policy failures.

"It tells us that the Obama approach of relieving sanctions . . . has failed," he said.

THE PROTESTS: WHAT SPARKED THEM?

I think it’s important to look at how #IranProtests are playing out in Iranian media. Coverage and lack thereof can often provide clues as to the broader political significance and even the origins of what’s taking place
1/

— Golnar Motevalli (@golnarM) December 31, 2017

A few observations from a journalist in Tehran who witnessed a protest: he said the protesters were very young, in their early 20s. They called on the army to join them, he said. "They're fed up with the establishment & the reformists." 1/2 #Iranprotests

— Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) December 31, 2017

On the situation in #Iran, this is what my contacts on the ground have told me:
The protests started by groups who are anti-Rouhani, but ppl who are frustrated with current situation joined and changed the scale/demands of protests

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) December 31, 2017

1. It's to early to know the who, what, and why of the #IranProtests in detail. But we do know that these kinds of mobilizations are really common in upper-middle income countries facing economic hardship. That should be the starting-point of analysis.

— Esfandyar Batmanghelidj (@yarbatman) December 31, 2017

5 facts on #Iranprotests:
1.Started small about economy.
2.Quickly turned political.
3.Spread to big & small cities.
4.Protestors middle/working class.
5.Calling for regime/#Khameni ouster not reform.#Iran #اعتراض_سراسری #Iranian

— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) December 30, 2017

When Iran state TV broke its silence to report on the protests, showing pictures of peaceful demonstrations, and stressing economic issues, it also quoted Trump support for them. Speaks for itself.

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) December 31, 2017