Iran and the US
They [the US] don't have a huge range of forces in the Middle East. They don't an aircraft carrier there. They do have a couple of ships, guided missile destroyers that can launch cruise missiles. They have some aircraft in the Middle East. They could obviously fly in long-range bombers. They could be looking at strikes on a small set of security force targets to punish them for going after protesters. It could extend to going after the broader base of the regime in terms of military capabilities, and the ballistic missile programme. There might be some, if they believe that the regime is brittle enough, who say now is the time to go after the intransigent elements of the regime, maybe even the Supreme Leader himself. Underneath all that, there will be a whole range of options that aren't about force or violence, they're about disrupting regime communications, preventing their propaganda getting out, and actually helping protesters to get their story out, undermining what little remains of support for the regime."
