President Donald Trump's vow that Washington would come to the aid of the Iranian people "is becoming more real by the day," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Tuesday, urging Tehran to change course.
Addressing "the brave people of Iran" on X, Graham said that the Trump "has always heard your cries and demands for justice."
"If this regime continues the course they are on, then I believe President Trump's statement that help is on the way is becoming more real by the day," wrote Graham, who emphasized he believes that the Islamic Republic has already proven "it's incapable of real change."
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the Iran International opposition outlet on Tuesday that "when [Trump] makes a promise, he keeps it."
"Pay close attention to what he says, because what he says is what he will do," Huckabee said when asked about Trump's promise to assist the Iranian people in their fight against the regime.
The remarks came as Trump told Axios that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for possible military action if the ongoing negotiations with Iran fail.
"Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time," Trump told the U.S. outlet. "We have an armada that is heading there, and another one might be going."
Trump said in the Axios interview that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to meet him in the Oval Office on Wednesday, also prefers "a good deal" with the Islamic regime.
An unnamed U.S. official confirmed to Axios that there had been talks about sending another aircraft carrier, in addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group, which arrived in the region late last month.
However, Trump expressed optimism about the diplomacy, claiming that Iran "wants to make a deal very badly" after the U.S. struck the country's nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June 2025.
Trump said it was a "no-brainer" for any deal to cover Tehran's nuclear program but that he thought it would also be possible to address its ballistic missiles. "We can make a great deal with Iran," he stated.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for National Security, told Oman's state broadcaster on Tuesday that Washington had "also come to the conclusion" that talks should focus on the nuclear issue and that introducing additional demands could lead to "difficulties."
"At present, the American side is thinking more realistically. In the past, they linked military and missile issues to the nuclear file, but now they are speaking only about the nuclear issue," the top official claimed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Russia's RT on Tuesday that U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a member of the Board of Peace, "were trying to avoid war and to find a diplomatic solution," calling it "the most wise decision."
"We are told that their intention is to find a peaceful solution … If they are serious, we are serious too," according to Tehran's top diplomat.
In a Jan. 2 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump threatened that the United States was "locked and loaded and ready to go" if Iran killed anti-regime protesters, which he said was the "custom" of the Islamic Republic.
Trump repeatedly escalated his rhetoric, including on Jan. 4, when the president told reporters that Iran would be "hit very hard" if it started killing protesters. Trump also called for "new leadership" in Tehran.
The largest anti-regime protest movement since 1979 spread across Iran in December and January, with demonstrators reportedly filling the streets of Tehran, Mashhad, and other cities across all 31 provinces.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei admitted that "several thousand" were killed, attributing the protests to "those linked to Israel and the U.S. According to Iranian opposition NGOs, tens of thousands were killed.
The unrest was initially triggered by inflation and the collapse of the rial, which plunged to about 1.46 million to the dollar. However, what began as anger over prices and a sinking currency widened into calls to end clerical rule, with strikes shuttering businesses in commercial hubs.
Some activists returned to the streets on Tuesday as Tehran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution, per the Associated Press.
Eyewitnesses cited by the wire agency reported hearing shouts of "Death to the dictator!" from residential neighborhoods during a government-sponsored firework show in the Iranian capital.
This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.