TOP STORIES
Trump Seeks ‘Decisive’ Options for Iran as Assets Move into Middle East | Wall Street Journal
After pulling back from strikes on Iran last week, President Trump is still pressing aides for what he terms “decisive” military options, U.S. officials said, as Iran appears to have tightened its control of the country and targets protesters through a crackdown that has killed thousands. The discussions are happening while the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier and jet fighters to the Middle East. Those deployments may be the start of a broader buildup that would give Trump the firepower to strike Iran should he choose to use them.
Iran Protest Deaths Seen Rising with One Estimate Topping 20,000 | Bloomberg
The number of people reported killed in Iran’s protest crackdown has surged as rights groups continue to verify suspected fatalities, with the United Nations warning the total could be more than 20,000. The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency said it’s verified 4,902 deaths during the unrest that erupted in late December, according to a statement on its website. The group is reviewing a further 9,387, while more than 26,000 people have been arrested, it said.
[Islamic Revolutionary] Guards commander General Mohammad Pakpour warned Israel and the United States “to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate.” “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief—a leader dearer than their own lives,” he said, referring to Khamenei.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Why Iran’s Regime Didn’t Collapse | UANI Senior Advisor Saeid Golkar in Foreign Policy
As protests once again spread across Iranian cities in recent weeks, observers asked a familiar question: Is the Islamic Republic finally nearing collapse? Rising prices, currency freefall, labor strikes, and open defiance of clerical authority have produced a level of unrest that would destabilize most regimes. Yet, despite repeated cycles of mass protests in Iran, including the most recent spate, they have so far failed to translate into a political rupture. The problem is not a lack of widespread opposition; a violent crackdown this month resulted in the killing of thousands of protesters. To suggest the regime is anything but deeply unpopular is a misreading of how power operates in Tehran. The central issue is not whether Iranians want change but why sustained unrest has not yet fractured the regime—and the answer is that the Islamic Republic was built that way.
Inside Iran's Security Apparatus: How Stable is the Regime? | CSIS Podcast: The Last Line of Defense
Host Seth Jones speaks with [UANI Senior Advisor] Norman Roule, who served as the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from November 2008 until September 2017. The pair discusses the ongoing protests in Iran, the regime’s response, and potential policy responses from the White House.
Trump Has Options in Iran. None Are Likely to Help Protesters Much | Wall Street Journal
Some groups are now pushing for exactly that. United Against Nuclear Iran, a U.S.-based advocacy group, on Monday presented the White House with a nearly 100-page intelligence report focused on a security body called the Tharallah Headquarters, which UANI calls the most critical cog in the Revolutionary Guard’s suppression of domestic unrest.
Lloyd’s List attributed part of the sustained expansion to international recognition Liberia received in June 2025 from the U.S.-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which commended the Liberian registry for operating a “world-class compliance programme.” The commendation followed UANI’s assessment that Liberia’s fleet was free of tankers suspected of involvement in illicit oil trading.
So, on January 15, Germany refused to enter the Baltic Sea the Tavian tanker under the flag of Cameroon. We are talking about a 27-year-old tanker, which is called a "zombie tanker" due to constant changes in name and identification data. As experts have established, Tavian uses a fake IMO number 1095337. According to German experts, it is actually a Tia tanker (IMO 9147447), one of the oldest large oil tankers still in service. The Tia vessel is included in the US sanctions list and the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) organization.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Israel’s Defense Establishment Raises Alert Level Ahead of Possible U.S. Strike on Iran | Haaretz
Israel’s defense establishment has raised its level of alert in recent days amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump may have decided to strike Iran, possibly within days, security officials said.
IRGC Media Claims Missiles and Drones Are Being Moved Across Iranian Cities | IranWire
The Telegram channel of the “Sepah News Agency” has released images of trucks and trailers carrying heavy military equipment, claiming that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is moving combat weapons across several Iranian cities.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Trump Claims ‘Iran Wants to Talk, and We'll Talk’ as He Rolls out Board of Peace | New York Post
President Trump claimed Thursday that Iran’s theocratic leaders “want to talk, and we’ll talk” following weeks-long demonstrations that have rocked the Islamic Republic. Trump made the comments during remarks at a ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, establishing an international Board of Peace meant to oversee the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Witkoff: US Not Currently Negotiating with Iran | Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, speaking on behalf of the Trump administration, said the US isn’t negotiating with Iran now, although “we’ve had contact with them.” Speaking in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Witkoff said that “Iran is a deal that ought to happen.” When pressed on details, he avoided specifics but reiterated the potential for a deal. . . . In another Davos interview, Witkoff told Arab News that Iran must come and sit at the diplomatic table. “That has to happen [Iran negotiating],” he said. “It’s important. If Iran goes, so the region goes, and so we have to get that straight.”
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Says 3,117 Killed in Protests, Activists Fear ‘Far Higher’ Toll | Agence France-Presse
Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations. . . . Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO, said “all available evidence emerging from Iran indicates that the real number of people killed during the protests is far higher. . . . The Islamic republic has a well-documented pattern of systematic underreporting of lethal state violence,” he told AFP, warning that if the same pattern of Iran’s underreporting of executions is applied here “the actual number of people killed could be in the range of 25,000.”
Iran’s Protests Have Been Completely Squashed, Government Says | New York Times
The Iranian government said on Wednesday that it had successfully suppressed anti-government protests that had roiled the country for weeks, after a crackdown that killed thousands. “The sedition is over now,” said Mohammad Movahedi, Iran’s prosecutor general, according to the judiciary’s Mizan News agency. “And we must be grateful, as always, to the people who extinguished this sedition by being in the field in a timely manner.” . . . The Iranian authorities have vowed to punish people responsible for the protests, who they accuse of being terrorists supported by foreign governments. The “provocateurs,” Mr. Movahedi said on Wednesday, “will be tried and punished in accordance with all legal procedures.” Officials have said they would try people with “waging war against God,” a charge which carries the death penalty.
Iran Deaths Went Beyond Protesters, Hitting Bystanders Too, Witnesses Say | Reuters
Art student Arash was walking home through the streets of Tehran when a shotgun blast ended his life. He had not shouted slogans, joined protesters or raised a fist. A friend, speaking by telephone from the Iranian capital, described the moment in a voice cracking with grief: Arash fell instantly, lifeless on the pavement. He was 22. The friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear for his security, said they had paused on the sidewalk to watch a protest in nearby Vanak Square when security forces in black uniforms arrived and began firing randomly towards the demonstrators. Arash’s death on January 8 is an example of what witnesses say has been a reality of the country's latest anti-government protests—bystanders uninvolved in the unrest caught in gunfire, or killed as they tried to flee the chaos.
Yazdanshahr, a residential-urban suburb in the Najafabad area, has been the scene of numerous street protests since January 2. A local resident, speaking to Radio Farda, painted a vivid picture of destruction: bullet marks scarring city walls and doors, bricks torn from facades, shattered windows, and banks and government buildings set ablaze.
Describing the morning after security forces cracked down on protesters, the eyewitness said, “There was a body lying behind every car. They had beaten everyone.” . . . The witness went on to describe security forces indiscriminately firing automatic weapons into crowds, showing no mercy to passersby, shopkeepers, or onlookers watching from rooftops. “They beat anyone who was outside,” the witness said, noting that several members of some families were killed.
Iran’s Internet Blackout Among Most Severe Ever, Experts Say | Bloomberg
Iran’s nearly two week-long internet and communications shutdown is the largest in the country’s history, according to experts who track the issue. . . . Even Iran’s National Information Network (NIN), the domestic network designed to keep government and businesses running during shutdowns, was taken offline in a costly move, underscoring the severity of the response. [Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at the network intelligence firm Kentik] said the blackout reflects years of investment in sophisticated censorship technologies, adding that “other authoritarians are probably watching this and learning.”
Iranian Protester Was Killed in Front of Mother and Grandmother | Iran International
Witnesses told Iran International that a 28-year-old man was shot dead by security forces earlier this month during protests in a neighborhood of Isfahan, a major city in central Iran, in an incident they said took place in front of his mother and grandmother. The man, identified as Pedram Saeidi, was killed on the evening of Jan. 9.
Denied Mourning: The Ordeal of the Family of Robina Aminian, Killed in Iran | France 24
Robina Aminian, 23, is one of thousands of victims of the Iranian state's recent crackdown on anti-regime protesters. The young woman was shot in the back of the head on January 8 during a protest in Tehran. Her aunt, living in Norway, spoke to France 24 about the personal and bureaucratic torment the family was subjected to after her niece’s death.
Iran Protests: Family Recounts Fatal Shooting | Deutsche Welle
Mohammad Saleh Zarif Moghadam left his home in the capital, Tehran, on the evening of January 8 and headed toward one of the anti-regime protests that had been popping up in cities across Iran. According to his aunt, Farzaneh, the 28-year-old had also taken part in demonstrations in 2022 following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in police custody after Iran's notorious morality police accused her of violating the country's strict dress code. This time, however, Saleh would not return. “He lost his life for freedom,” Farzaneh told DW.
Severe Head Injuries Made Missing Iranian Protester Hard to Identify | Iran International
Witnesses told Iran International that the body of a 50-year-old man [Nasser Movahednia] who went missing during protests in central Iran was hard to identify because of severe head injuries, and that he was buried quickly under orders from authorities without a public funeral.
Iranian Taekwondo Coach Was Killed While Trying to Aid Injured Protesters | Iran International
Witnesses told Iran International that a well-known Iranian taekwondo athlete and coach [Afshin Miarkiani] was killed during protests earlier this month after trying to help wounded demonstrators. . . . According to the witnesses, security forces noticed him as he tried to assist injured protesters and then shot him from behind. He died at the scene.
Iran’s Crackdown Creates a New Economy of Crime | IranWire
The spread of nationwide protests and the ongoing climate of repression in Iran have not only resulted in an unprecedented killing of protesters but have also opened the door to a surge in crimes, from extortion by security forces and bribe demands by judicial staff to rogue operations, fake agents, theft, and muggings.
800 Film Professionals Sign Statement Condemning Iran’s Government for Killings | Hollywood Reporter
Some 800 film professionals, including Oscar winners Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and director Yorgos Lanthimos, have signed a joint statement condemning the Iranian government’s brutal crackdown on protestors, calling out Tehran’s killing and torturing of its own people.
Boniadi: “Hollywood has historically stood up for oppressed peoples. That makes the relative silence from my colleagues especially painful. I can only attribute it to the regime’s success in pushing a narrative that this uprising is somehow manufactured by the U.S. and Israel. As Palestinian writer Rasha Halveh said, ‘A government that kills its own people, that oppresses its own women, cannot help to liberate my people.’ I encourage our community to heed the calls of our counterparts in Iran. Actresses Tareneh Alidoosti, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, among others, have risked their lives to stand with protesters. Rapper Toomaj Salehi continues to advocate for freedom after prison and torture. These are not Western stooges; they are Iranians risking everything.”
Iran’s Rulers Are Betting on the Iron Fist | Ata Mohamed Tabriz for Iran International
The unprecedented brutal crackdown on recent protests in Iran suggests Tehran’s rulers are no longer attempting to govern a discontented society but are in open conflict with it. The large-scale killing of protesters may look like a panicked security response, but it is better understood as a calculated effort to destroy protest both on the streets and in people’s minds. By deploying overwhelming force, the state is seeking to reframe protest as an act that guarantees death—so dangerous that it becomes irrational to attempt. . . . The state has effectively pushed society into an impossible position, where enduring daily life is as unpleasant—and as unimaginable—as any attempt to change it. This paralysis is not accidental. It is Tehran’s endgame, and increasingly its only means of survival.
Iran Still Among World’s Worst Countries for Torture of Jailed Journalists—CPJ | Iran International
Iran remains one of the world’s worst countries for abusing detained journalists, with reporters subjected to torture and harsh prison conditions amid intensified repression following nationwide protests, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “Iran held five journalists as of December 1, down from a peak of 55 three years earlier, but has generated the highest number of documented torture and beating cases against imprisoned media workers since records began in 1992,” CPJ’s 2025 global prison census published on Wednesday said.
HOSTAGES
When Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh returned to Iran in the spring of 2024, it was the first time he had set foot in his home country in 15 years. The veteran journalist, who had spent more than a decade in exile, traveled to Iran to see and care for his aging parents. Six months later, he was in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. Valizadeh, a 49-year-old dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and longtime critic of Iran's security establishment, was arrested on Sept. 22, 2024, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His detention, detailed in a petition filed Tuesday by his attorney with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, comes amid Iran's sweeping crackdown on protests across the country, and as tensions with Washington simmer.
IRANIAN DIASPORA
168 Protests, 73 Cities: Iranian Diaspora Takes Uprising Message Worldwide | Iran International
Iranians abroad staged at least 168 protests across 30 countries and 73 cities, turning the uprising inside Iran into a global wave of demonstrations that surged after internet shutdowns. From Tokyo and Seoul in East Asia to Los Angeles and San Francisco on the US West Coast, and from Oslo, Stockholm, and Tampere in northern Europe to Melbourne and Adelaide in the Southern Hemisphere, Iranian communities took to the streets in what organizers described as coordinated expressions of solidarity with protesters inside Iran.