Those are not neutral protests, those are armed fraction to take down the government, any existing government would fight back.

He said it clearly:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/6/has-trump-confirmed-...

And anyone who knows a bit of history in the region they will understand that this is the case. They armed Saddam to fight Iran for 8 years. The main issue with Iran is that it is against Israel.