President Donald Trump signalled that he would assist anti-government protesters in Iran as the White House convened top officials today to weigh military options. The United States President indicated that the time for negotiations with Tehran had passed, saying in a social media post that he had “cancelled all meetings” with Iranian officials. Some political allies are warning against the dangers of entanglement in another overseas conflict and the domestic costs of abandoning the “America First” foreign policy Trump campaigned on. The arguments against a strike include the danger of an accident or failure as the US military and spy services attempt more high-risk operations, as well as the possibility that the fall of the Iranian Government could lead to a more militant regime or another failed state in the Middle East, according to former officials and people close to the White House. At the same time, the people said, sceptics of a strike are hoping to avoid the open acrimony leading up to the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites in June, which stoked divisions in Trump’s base over the wisdom of intervention in a Middle Eastern conflict and the meaning of his “America First” slogan. The National Security Council metwithout Trump to prepare options for the President, a person familiar with the meeting said. Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials are presenting options to Trump without preference, the person said. The President has repeatedly threatened that the US could use military force if the Government in Tehran keeps killing demonstrators. Other options could include increased economic pressure on the Government, cyberattacks and stepped-up support for the protest movement. Reports from activists and opposition news sites covering Iran, which have been hampered by the Government’s total shutdown of internet and communications, estimate upward of 2000 deaths from the protests - now in their third week. “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump wrote online, adding an acronym for “Make Iran Great Again” and echoing an earlier post from Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina), who has been encouraging Trump to intervene. Asked to clarify during an appearance in Michigan, Trump said, “You’re going to have to figure that one out”. He later repeated the message to the Detroit Economic Club. “The President has made his position clear, and he has demonstrated with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Absolute Resolve that he means what he says,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, using the code names for the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and the recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has announced 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Iran. The Administration has not elaborated on how that would be enforced. Despite the public sabre-rattling, Trump has sounded less certain in private, according to the people close to the White House. Some described him as less enthusiastic than before the bombings in June. Another called it “a coin flip”. “We don’t care about making Iran great again,” Stephen Bannon, a longtime Trump adviser who has been one of the few Republican voices publicly advocating against a strike, said on his popular online talk show. “Israel and the US in there, you’re just going to prolong the problem.” Unlike in Trump’s first term, when some of his national security advisers came from the more hawkish tradition of Republican foreign policy, most of the President’s current advisers are less inclined to intervene in the Middle East. Vance supported Trump’s decision in June to bomb Iran’s main nuclear facilities but has been wary of being dragged into a deeper Middle East entanglement, said two people close to him. Trump was briefed last week on military options and a range of other scenarios, according to a former US official familiar with the matter. US President Donald Trump in Detroit, Michigan. Photo / Anna Moneymaker, AFP They...