This week, President Trump presses his foreign policy initiatives even further, addressing at least three major policy issues this week:

Receiving clearance from Congress for more military action in Venezuela. High-level meetings on Greenland. And a promise to the people of Iran, revolting against a brutal regime.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

It is a revolution in reverse: street protests in Iran that began late last year have grown, literally inflaming the country and bringing untold casualties as security forces move to stop a rebellion intent on toppling a regime headed by Ayatollah Khamenei, in power for 37 years.

That regime came to power after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

His authoritarian rule and U.S. ties fueled unrest. The 1979 revolution established an Islamic Republic grounded in strict Muslim religious ideology, led by a religious ayatollah.

Scott Thuman: Do you see this as a reverse revolution?

Alex Vatanka: Look, people of Iran rose up in 1979 against the shah because they said he was a tyrant, and then they ended up with another tyrant, and Khamenei is much worse of a tyrant. This is the final verdict on the performance of the Islamic Republic.

Scott Thuman: This is the verdict.

Alex Vatanka: This is the verdict.

Alex Vatanka is an expert on Iran.

Scott Thuman: In a land as oppressive as Iran, it must take a lot for people to be willing to go out in the streets and shout and protest and scream and demand change.

Alex Vatanka: People are literally putting their lives on the line here. So when you see these images coming out of Iran with young people in body bags, this is real. People are dying for a basic call for, “Listen to my voice. I don’t like the way things are in this country.”

Their fate is unknown, but probably not good.

That has prompted some tough talk from President Trump.

President Donald Trump: We’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.

There seems something of a parallel here. 1979 was also the year those revolutionary students in Iran seized the U.S. Embassy, holding 66 American hostages for 444 days. That prompted some tough talk from President Reagan.

President Ronald Reagan: When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.

Scott Thuman: Could this be Trump’s Ronald Reagan moment?

Alex Vatanka: At the very least, it’s an opportunity for the United States to try and get the future of Iran right.

Scott Thuman: What about the possibility of military force by the United States?

Alex Vatanka: It can’t look like anything we saw during the 12-day war, where the U.S. flew in and, over the course of a few hours over Iranian space, took out three nuclear sites and left. If the U.S., on the other hand, identifies key players in this killing machinery that’s going on and takes out individuals, well, that’s different, because suddenly an external power has come in, to the aid of Iranian protesters who are facing the killing machine.

The Iranian revolution of 1979 was largely an uprising of students—young people who wanted to overthrow a repressive regime.

Earlier that same decade, Iran thrived as a modernizing, pro-Western monarchy, with the capital, Tehran, a cosmopolitan hub. The women who supported the ayatollah were soon forced to wear hijabs.

This revolution is also led and inspired by the young.

Sana Ebrahimi: This is just a war on Iranian people, a war by the government on its people.

Sana Ebrahimi is a doctorate student at the University of Illinois Chicago. She was born and raised in Tehran, Iran.

Scott Thuman: What do you think Iranian citizens really want the most right now?

Sana Ebrahimi: They want this regime gone. People used to live a good life, and people are calling back for that. People don’t have electricity for a couple hours every day. People don’t have water for a couple hours every day. People cannot live a normal life. There’s literally nothing.

Scott Thuman: People are willing to risk their lives to gain those rights?

Sana Ebrahimi: Yes, because they don’t see any other way.

Scott Thuman: Have you heard from your family?

Sana Ebrahimi: No, I haven’t been able to hear from my family. I’ve heard that they are fine, and that’s the extent that I’m aware of.

Scott Thuman: If Iran went through this revolution, would you ever go back and live there permanently?

Sana Ebrahimi: I would love to. Who wants to leave everything, everything that they belong to? I for sure would love to have that chance.

Scott Thuman: For Full Measure, I’m Scott Thuman in Washington.

Watch video here.