President Donald Trump was unequivocal. If the Iranian government massacred protesters, the U.S. military would come to their assistance. “Help is on the way,” he declared. It was not to be, at least in the days that followed.

Trump claimed victory by suggesting his pressure made military action unnecessary. “They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the hangings,” he said. Iranian protesters, frankly, do not know what Trump is talking about. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, a group focused on Iran, reported that the regime had executed 52 prisoners in the days leading up to Trump’s declaration. Ahmad Khatami, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, delivered a Jan. 16 sermon on Khamenei’s behalf. “Armed hypocrites … should be put to death,” he declared. Many already have been, as reports emerge that security forces raided hospitals to shoot wounded protesters.

TRUMP PUSHES REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN AFTER AYATOLLAH DECLARES PRESIDENT ‘GUILTY’ OF ‘SLANDER’ AND ‘SEDITION’

Trump is a cipher who has never felt bound by his rhetoric. He may truly have abandoned his promise to........

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