The Trump administration intensified efforts following images that emerged from Iranian protests in recent days. Until that point, the administration did not believe the protests had crossed a threshold that would cause the regime to panic.

However, the internet shutdown, the large number of protesters, and harsh repression measures — which have reportedly led to at least 2,000 deaths — have prompted senior administration officials to seriously consider helping the demonstrators.

The Jerusalem newspaper also reported that after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a small group of ministers and senior security officials to discuss the situation in Iran on Sunday, Israel made several decisions on the issue.

These included not intervening publicly in Iran, letting the U.S. lead any assistance measures for protesters, and preparing for the possibility that Tehran may decide to launch ballistic missiles at Israel to divert attention from the demonstrations.