TOP STORIES
Hundreds of Iranian Protesters Feared Killed; U.S. Considers Military Strikes | Washington Post
Hundreds of demonstrators have been killed in Iran, rights groups said Sunday, as reports of a dramatic escalation in the use of deadly force by security forces began to break through a communications blackout imposed by authorities struggling to contain some of the largest protests since the Islamic republic was founded in 1979. . . . The Human Rights Activists News Agency . . . said 490 protesters had been killed since the protests began Dec. 28. . . . “This is now unequivocally about regime change for many of the protesters, hence also the regime’s escalation into violence,” [a senior Western] official said. The “regime is holding it together for now,” the official continued, but only with “massive violence.” . . . Some Iranian officials with whom he is in contact appear to be preparing for “the day after,” he said, but he hasn’t seen credible reports of increased regime defections.
U.S. Steps Up Planning for Possible Action in Iran | Wall Street Journal
President Trump is scheduled to be briefed Tuesday on options to respond to the protests in Iran, according to U.S. officials, a sign the president is considering reprimanding the regime for its crackdown on demonstrators as he has repeatedly threatened. The president’s planned meeting with senior administration officials will be a discussion about the next steps, which could include boosting antigovernment sources online, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on the regime and military strikes, the officials said. . . . The Pentagon hasn’t moved any forces in preparation for potential military strikes. The U.S. would need to put assets in place not only to launch attacks but also protect American forces in the region.
Iran Threatens Preemptive Strikes Against Israel and US Bases | Politico
Speaking during a session of parliament broadcast live on Iranian state television, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Israel—which he referred to as “the occupied territory”—as well as U.S. military centers, bases and ships would be considered “legitimate targets” in the event of an attack on Iran, according to media reports. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action,” Qalibaf said. “We will act based on any objective signs of a threat.” . . . In his remarks, Qalibaf also praised Iran’s security forces for their response to recent protests, applauding police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, particularly its volunteer Basij militia, for having “stood firm.” “The people of Iran should know that we will deal with them in the most severe way and punish those who are arrested,” Qalibaf said, referring to demonstrators.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Chilling secret documents and videos obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail have laid bare the inner workings of Iran’s ruthless ‘repression machine’—exposing the hidden war room and brutal tactics used to crush the uprising currently sweeping the country. The leaked files obtained by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), were acquired out of the regime's inner sanctum, revealing for the first time the ‘nervous system’ of the Ayatollah's crackdown: the shadowy Tharallah Headquarters in Tehran. While brave protesters flood the streets of Tehran in ongoing demonstrations, these documents show they are facing a highly organized, industrial-scale operation designed to keep the dictatorship alive at any cost. . . . Kasra Aarabi, Director of IRGC Research at UANI, issued a stark warning to the West, calling for direct action against this apparatus. ‘The cycle of protests and suppression will continue until the balance of power shifts between the unarmed Iranian population and the radicalized and fully armed IRGC suppressive apparatus,’ Aarabi said. ‘Weakening this apparatus, including through targeted military strikes, is critical to supporting the Iranian people's democratic aspirations.’
‘This Is the Endgame,’ Former UK Security Minister Says of Iran | Iran International
[UANI Senior Advisor] Tom Tugendhat, a British MP and former UK security minister, told Eye for Iran the moment reflects a system confronting its own limits. “I think this is the end game for the regime,” Tugendhat said. “What we’re watching is not whether or not the regime survives, but how many people does it try to kill?” he added. . . . “This is truly an extraordinary moment,” said [UANI Senior Advisor] Norman Roule, a former senior CIA official, who served as the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2008 to 2017. “We are watching a regime that is clearly in its dying days,” Roule said. . . . “The Iranian people have the singular ability to expose the regime for its illegitimacy,” said Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. “Since 2017 onwards, the Iranian people have come to the conclusion that the Islamic Republic can’t be reformed and therefore has to be overthrown,” Brodsky said.
UANI Director of IRGC Research Kasra Aarabi Discusses the Iranian Protests | Sky News
At least 3000 unarmed civilians have been killed by the regime, said UANI Director of IRGC Research Kasra Aarabi. The regime’s suppressive apparatus will continue its campaign of violence unless it faces targeted military strikes.
US Looking at ‘Some Very Strong Options’—Trump Warns Iran as Protests Escalate | Kyiv Post
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a non-profit organization dedicated to countering threats posed by the Islamic regime, told Kyiv Post Sunday night that the administration should focus on actions that directly weaken the regime’s ability to suppress dissent. He argued the most effective immediate steps would be cyberattacks to disable surveillance and censorship, along with targeted strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ internal security units. Brodsky also warned against engaging Tehran diplomatically at this moment. Negotiations now, he said, “would be construed as an external intervention on behalf of the regime while the Iranian people are risking their lives to displace it.”
With an economy in free fall, water supplies dwindling, and basic human rights barely existent, Iran’s citizens have finally had enough. . . . For an in-depth analysis addressing all these questions, please join us for The Forum Roundtable featuring Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies and Jason Brodsky, Policy Director at United Against a Nuclear Iran.
Iran's Ayatollah is 'Scared of Trump' | The Trump Report
“The reality is they are scared of Trump.” Iran is “still killing protesters” which means the “US will intervene”, says Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran.
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
They Protested Peacefully. Iran Answered with Bullets | Telegraph
The Iranian security guard aimed his Kalashnikov at his intended target before opening fire. Hearing the crack of gunfire, Mobin Yaghoubzadeh ran through the dark streets of his hometown in the north of the country. But the bullets found him anyway—like so many others across the Islamic republic. He was 17, too young to vote. He’d taken to the streets of Khoshk-e Bijar with his classmates, chanting about empty fridges and the price of bread, about a future that seemed to be slipping further away from them all.
Several people who protested in Iran over the past few days have spoken to CNN about seeing enormous crowds as well as brutal violence on the streets of Tehran, with one woman saying she saw “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital.
Staff at three hospitals in Iran have told the BBC their facilities are overwhelmed with dead or injured patients, as major anti-government protests continue. . . . A hospital worker in Tehran described “very horrible scenes,” saying there were so many wounded that staff did not have time to perform CPR. “Around 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds . . . direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well. Many of them didn’t even make it to the hospital. The number was so large that there wasn't enough space in the morgue; the bodies were placed on top of one another. After the morgue became full, they stacked them on top of one another in the prayer room,” she said.
Iranian Student Protester Shot in Back of the Head and Buried by Roadside | Telegraph
Rubina Aminian, a 23-year-old student in Tehran, joined street protests against the Iranian regime after a day of classes on the textiles programme at Shariati College. If her social media profile is anything to go by, she did so full of optimism and joy. Videos show a young Kurdish woman in love with life: trying on jewellery and lipstick, blowing kisses to the camera. After joining the crowds straight from college on Thursday, she never made it home. By the weekend, her family was forced to bury her beside a deserted road. According to Iran Human Rights, she was shot at close range in the back of the head. When her parents travelled from their home in Kermanshah to Tehran to identify her body, they saw many other young people killed in similar ways, the group said.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as his supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later referred to the demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown as in other protests in recent years, despite Trump’s pledge to back peaceful protesters with force if necessary. Protesters are “ruining their own streets ... in order to please the president of the United States,” the 86-year-old Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.” Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei separately vowed that punishment for protesters “will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”
Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warns that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television says even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge. “Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country,” the statement reads. “Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.”
IRGC Intelligence Arm Threatens Protesters, Says Situation ‘Unacceptable’ | Iran International
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization issued a warning to protesters on Friday, saying the continuation of the current situation was “unacceptable.” . . . The statement added that the organization vows to protect what it described as the achievements of the Islamic Republic and public security as a “red line.”
Pezeshkian Takes Aim at Israel, US as over 2,000 Estimated Killed in Iran Protests | Jerusalem Post
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the US and Israel for ordering "rioters" to create instability in Iran in a speech released Sunday. He called on Iranians to distance themselves from “rioters and terrorists,” adding that his government was determined to resolve people’s economic problems. . . . He accused “terrorists” with links to foreign powers of killing innocent people, burning mosques, and attacking public property. “Families are pleading that they not allow their young people to mix with rioters and terrorists who behead and kill people. Protest if you must, we must listen to your protest. Your concerns must be addressed. We must sit together, hand in hand, and resolve them.”
Iran Says It Quelled Protests After Hundreds Reported Killed | Bloomberg
Iran’s Foreign Minister said security forces have “full control” of the country after two weeks of violent unrest, as the government held counter-demonstrations against those demanding an end to the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s Internet Shutdown Is Chillingly Precise and May Last Some Time | Guardian
Iran’s internet shutdown, now in place for 36 hours as the authorities seek to quell escalating anti-government protests, represents a “new high-water mark” in terms of its sophistication and severity, say experts—and could last a long time. As the blackout kicked in, 90% of internet traffic to Iran evaporated. International calls to the country appeared blocked and domestic mobile phones had no service, said Amir Rashidi, an Iranian digital rights expert.
“The internet shutdown appears to have backfired, as boredom and frustration drove even more people into the streets” a 47-year-old man from the Iranian capital, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told CNN.
Khamenei’s X Account Active as Iran Stays Offline | Iran International
Several messages were posted on the social media account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday, repeating remarks he made in a televised speech earlier, as the country remained under severe internet restrictions.
Rubio: The United States Supports the Brave People of Iran | Times of Israel
“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” [U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X].
Iranian Cultural Figures Condemn Internet Blackout as ‘Blatant Tool of Repression’ | Guardian
The Iranian film-makers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof have condemned the internet blackout in their country as a “blatant tool of repression” intended to conceal violence against protesters, amid an outpouring of solidarity from artists in the diaspora. . . . They said citizens had been left defenceless and called on the international community, human rights organisations and the media to “immediately find ways to facilitate access to vital information in Iran by enabling communication platforms, and monitor what is happening in Iran.”
Cleric in Viral Video Denounces Islamic Republic as Protests Grip Key Cities | Iran International
[A] widely circulated video appears to show an elderly cleric who identifies himself as Ali Kashani. Responding to a question from a woman filming him on a busy street that appears to be in Tehran, he says he opposes what he calls a “criminal and murderer” government as shoppers and passersby move through the scene. In the footage, he denounces Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, and what he describes as “his sedition,” saying it has harmed the people, the country and religion, and calls on people to rise up against it. A woman off camera is heard chanting “Death to Khamenei” and insulting Khomeini, while the cleric signals approval.
Social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, updated the Iranian flag emoticon used on its website to feature Iran’s pre-Islamic revolution lion and sun flag, early Saturday morning . . . Early on Saturday morning, the update went into effect, replacing all previously utilized regime flags with the sun and lion, including on official Iranian regime accounts.
Iran Stages Pro-Regime Rallies to Counter Ongoing Economic Protests | Yedioth Ahronoth
Iran’s clerical regime launched state-organized rallies across the country on Monday in an effort to counter more than two weeks of nationwide protests against its rule. State media and outlets affiliated with the regime’s Shiite axis, including Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen, reported what they described as “mass marches” in several provinces. As expected, the demonstrations featured chants against the United States and Israel.
Is the Iranian Regime About to Collapse? | Karim Sadjadpour and Jack Goldstone in the Atlantic
History suggests that regimes collapse not from single failures but from a fatal confluence of stressors. One of us, Jack, has written at length about the five specific conditions necessary for a revolution to succeed: a fiscal crisis, divided elites, a diverse oppositional coalition, a convincing narrative of resistance, and a favorable international environment. This winter, for the first time since 1979, Iran checks nearly all five boxes.
Tehran’s Show of Strength—and the Cracks Beneath | Behrouz Turani for Iran International
The Islamic Republic’s response to loud cries of rejection has been to insist, ever more loudly, that nothing essential has changed. Yet the need for such insistence is itself revealing. Giants do not announce their strength; they assume it. When power must be constantly performed, restated and enforced on screen, it is often because the myth that sustained it is beginning to crack. Iran’s leadership may yet suppress the unrest. It still commands formidable coercive tools. But the scenes now unfolding—even through the narrow lens of state television—suggest that something has shifted. The state is shouting certainty into a country that no longer appears convinced. And once that moment arrives, the fall of a giant is no longer unthinkable—even if it is not yet complete.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Lufthansa Plans to Resume Iran Flights Despite Deadly Protests | Bloomberg
Deutsche Lufthansa AG still plans to resume flights to Iran’s capital this week despite ongoing deadly protests around the country and German government travel warnings. Lufthansa is targeting Friday for the first regular service to Tehran, a spokesperson said. That would end a suspension of about seven months. . . . Europe’s largest airline group—which includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss—would be among the few carriers offering direct flights to Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines have flights listed on their websites.
EU’s Kallas Ready to Propose New Iran Sanctions | Deutsche Presse Agentur
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she is ready to propose new sanctions on Iran in response to what she described as the brutal repression of protesters. “The EU already has sweeping sanctions in place on Iran – on those responsible for human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and Tehran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” Kallas [stated] . . . “I am prepared to propose additional sanctions in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protestors,” she added.
HOSTAGES
Iran’s Guards Arrest Foreigner Accused of Spying for Israel | Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence wing said it had arrested a foreigner suspected of spying for Israel, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS
Trump Warns Ayatollah ‘We Will Start Shooting if You Do’ as Iran Rocked by Another Night of Protests
[President Donald J. Trump] warned that the US would hit [Iran] hard if protesters were killed, saying he had “put Iran on notice”. “There’s so many people protesting,” he said in an interview . . . “Nobody’s ever seen anything like what’s happening right now, but I have put Iran on notice that if they start shooting at them—these people are totally unarmed people, and they love their country. They want something to happen. Look at their country. They’ve gone back 150 years. But I’ve warned them that if they do anything bad to these people, we’re going to hit them very hard. I’ve said it very loud and very clear, that’s what we’re going to do.” He later warned Iran’s leaders that they “better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
Donald Trump has claimed Iran has reached out and proposed negotiations, as he considers “very strong” military action against the regime over a deadly crackdown on protesters that has reportedly killed hundreds. Asked on Sunday by reporters aboard Air Force One if Iran had crossed his previously stated red line of protesters being killed, Trump said “they’re starting to, it looks like.” “We’re looking at it very seriously,” the US president said. “The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”
Iran Activates ‘Missile Cities’ as Ayatollah Faces Gravest Threat | Telegraph
Another senior Iranian official told The Telegraph: “The [supreme] leader has ordered the Sepah [IRGC] to remain on the highest level of readiness—even higher than during the June war. He is in closer contact with the IRGC than with the army or the police, because he believes the risk of IRGC defections is almost non-existent, whereas others have defected before. He has placed his fate in the hands of the IRGC.” Officials fear any intervention by Mr Trump could trigger what they described as an “apocalyptic” war. The official said: “The IRGC’s underground missile cities—which were deliberately kept intact during the 12-day war—are all on high alert. This time, it would be very different.”
Iran Ready for War and Negotiations, Says Foreign Minister | Iran International
Iran’s foreign minister said Monday that the Islamic Republic is prepared both for war and for negotiations, responding to recent threats by US President Donald Trump amid escalating tensions and nationwide protests.
CONGRESS & IRAN
‘Help Is on the Way,’ Top Trump Ally Graham Tells Iranian Protesters | Iran International
“TO THE IRANIAN PEOPLE: your long nightmare is soon coming to a close. Your bravery and determination to end your oppression has been noticed by @POTUS and all who love freedom,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said in a post on X on Saturday. “When President Trump says Make Iran Great Again, it means the protestors in Iran must prevail over the ayatollah. That is the clearest signal yet that he, President Trump understands Iran will never be great with the ayatollah and his henchmen in charge. To all who are sacrificing in Iran, God bless. Help is on the way,” Graham said, days after appearing alongside Donald Trump with a “Make Iran Great Again” hat seen in the US president’s hands.
EUROPE & IRAN
European Parliament Chief Urges IRGC Proscription, Bans on Iran Officials | Iran International
“Even as the regime tries to limit communication, the world still sees the courageous people of Iran standing up,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a post on X on Saturday. “We hear them demanding their dignity, their pride and their freedom. We are with them. This is this generation’s moment and they will change history. Those braving the streets, those political prisoners still being detained, need more than just words, Europe can act. As one step: by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation and by urgently further extending EU sanctions to all those individuals propping up the regime through repression, violence and murder,”: Metsola said. “Iran will be free," she added.
Von der Leyen Condemns Violent Crackdown on Iranian Protesters | Politico
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday called for imprisoned Iranian protesters to be released as demonstrations against the government in Tehran continued across the country. Europe stands “fully behind” Iranian protesters, von der Leyen said in a post on X. “We unequivocally condemn the violent repression of these legitimate demonstrations.” She called for the immediate release of imprisoned demonstrators and the restoration of internet access, which has been unavailable in Iran since Thursday.
Demonstrators rallied in London, Paris and Istanbul on Sunday in support of protests in Iran that have been countered with a deadly crackdown by the country’s security forces. London demonstrations, initially in front of the Iranian embassy and later in front of the British prime minister’s residence, grew to several thousand as the day progressed. . . . In Paris, more than 2,000 people waving Iran’s flag from before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 demonstrated to chants of “No to the terrorist Islamic Republic.” . . . In Istanbul, demonstrators voicing support for the Iranian protesters gathered in steady rain.
Protester Pulls Down National Flag from Iranian Embassy in London | Guardian
A protester has climbed on to the balcony of the Iranian embassy in central London and pulled down the country’s flag during an anti-regime demonstration. Social media footage appeared to show a man replacing the flag with the pre-Islamic revolution lion and sun flag, often used by opposition groups in the country. The Iranian embassy later posted a picture on its X account of the flag back in place with the caption “Iran’s flag is flying high.” The Metropolitan police said an estimated 500 to 1,000 people attended the protest on Saturday at its peak in Kensington.
TURKEY, ISRAEL & IRAN
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused the Mossad of using ongoing protests in Iran to destabilize the Islamic Republic in a Saturday interview. . . . “The Mossad is not hiding this,” Fidan said, referring to the protests. “They are calling on the Iranian people to rise up against the regime through their internet and Twitter accounts.”
CANADA & IRAN
Carney Condemns Iran Crackdown as Protests Near Two-Week Mark | Global News
In a post on X, Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the Iranian regime for its actions in the face of widespread protests. “The reports of violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation tactics by the Iranian regime against its own people are profoundly concerning,” the post read. “Canada strongly condemns the killing of protesters and urges Iran to allow for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,” it further said.