TOP STORIES
Iranian Protesters Plead with Trump: ‘Don’t Let Them Kill Us’ | Iran International
Protesters in Iran have appealed directly to Donald Trump for protection according to new videos sent to Iran International on Tuesday after the US president twice warned Tehran not to kill demonstrators or face US intervention. In one clip, a woman holds a sign reading, “Trump, a symbol of peace. Don't let them kill us,” while another shows the same message spray painted in red on a concrete wall. The woman holds the sign in English while she says in Farsi, “Help, we need HELP.”
Scores of protesters descended on a two-story building used by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in western Iran. As demonstrators chanted antiestablishment slogans and threw stones at the building on January 3, IRGC members climbed on the roof and opened fire on the crowd. That’s according to Mohammad Heydari Ilami, a resident of Malekshahi, Ilam Province, who witnessed the deadly incident. His testimony has been collaborated by human rights groups. “Those who didn't see them on the roof thought it was an air strike,” said Ilami, who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda. “But when some of the people who were shot fell to the ground, people realized they were shooting directly at them.” “A number of innocent people, mostly young people, were killed,” Ilami added. “The number of wounded was high.”
Trump Scraps the Witkoff Plan: No Talks with Tehran | Israel Hayom
US President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal put forward by United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to renew negotiations with Iran—mediated by Saudi Arabia and Oman—and has instead chosen an “active approach” that prioritizes severe economic and military pressure over renewed dialogue with the current regime in Tehran.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran Protests Reveal Regime in ‘Final Stretch’ | TVP World
“These protests aren’t just about money,” [UANI Senior Advisor and former British Minister of State for Security Tom] Tugendhat said. “They show a much deeper anger at the whole system. The leadership has basically run out of ways to hold the country together, and it’s only a matter of time before it collapses.” He highlighted growing tensions within Iran’s security apparatus as a critical warning sign. “There are cracks inside the security forces, especially between the regular army and the Revolutionary Guard,” Tugendhat noted. “Many senior figures are already looking for exit routes, while lower-level loyalists may be left exposed when things fall apart.” . . . While the regime has weathered previous waves of unrest, Tugendhat believes this moment is different. “We’re looking at a picture of a regime in its final stretch,” he concluded. “And the consequences will be felt far beyond Iran.”
Iran’s New Age of Revolutions | Kasra Aarabi and Saeid Golkar in Engelsberg Ideas
Suppression has become the only answer the Islamic Republic has to the crises it faces. It is for this reason that the security forces—centred on the IRGC—constitutes the single most significant barrier to regime change. They have repeatedly demonstrated that the regime has not only the capabilities but also the willingness to repress a determined yet largely defenceless population through brutal force and unrestrained violence. As long as this coercive advantage remains intact, cycles of protest and suppression are likely to continue without producing systemic change. . . . A meaningful shift would require altering the balance of power between the Iranian people and the regime’s suppressive apparatus. Without external pressure, the Islamic Republic retains sufficient tools to suppress unrest and deter elite defection. More active western engagement could, however, tilt the balance of power between unarmed protestors and the regime’s radicalised, coercive machinery. Effective pressure must therefore target both pillars of repression: the willingness to use violence and the capacity to sustain it. This means targeted military strikes that can neutralise key commanders and units as well as the critical headquarters of the suppressive apparatus. Beyond military means, coordinated strategies such as naming and shaming individuals who are actively involved in suppressing unarmed civilians, targeted sanctions and the full diplomatic isolation of the Islamic Republic can raise the costs of repression and weaken the foundations on which the regime’s control ultimately rests.
The Great Escape? U.S. Reportedly Weighing High-Seas Seizure of Fugitive Tanker | gCaptain
This isn’t just another sanctions-dodging tanker. Bella 1 was formally blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in June 2024 for its role in moving oil on behalf of networks tied to Hezbollah and Iran’s IRGC-Qods Force. Its registered owner was sanctioned under Executive Order 13224 — the U.S. government’s primary counter-terrorism authority. TankerTrackers.com estimates the VLCC carried more than 20 million barrels of Iranian and Venezuelan crude between 2021 and 2025, much of it bound for China through a web of ship-to-ship transfers. United Against Nuclear Iran has long labeled the ship part of its “Ghost Armada.”
MISSILE PROGRAM
Missiles, Not Diplomacy: How Iran Signals Resolve Under Pressure | Iran International
Tehran appears to be placing growing emphasis on its ballistic missile program amid continued domestic unrest and the looming possibility of US intervention in support of protesters in Iran. That assessment was underscored on Tuesday by a statement from Iran’s Defense Council, formed after the June war with Israel, which warned that the country could respond before an attack if it detected clear signs of a threat.
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
At Least 36 People Killed During Iran Protests, Rights Group Says | BBC News
At least 36 people have been killed during the last 10 days of protests across Iran, a human rights group has said. The foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 34 of those confirmed killed were protesters and two were affiliated with security forces. . . . HRANA also said that more than 60 protesters had been injured and 2,076 arrested during the unrest, which was sparked by an economic crisis and has spread to 27 of 31 provinces.
Iran Protests Swell in Tehran’s Bazaar | Wall Street Journal
Iranian authorities met a large protest in the Tehran Grand Bazaar on Tuesday with a heavy police response, as the unrest extended into a second week and the currency fell to a new low. Videos posted on social media showed crowds of demonstrators gathering in the capital’s central market—the beating heart of Iran’s economy. The crowd then rushed out as tear gas spread in the narrow alleyways and a nearby metro station . . . Police also fired tear gas into the grounds of Sina Hospital, some 1.7 miles north of the bazaar, according to verified footage.
Iran Executes Man Accused of Spying for Israel | Reuters
Iran executed a man accused of spying for Israel, the Iranian judiciary's media outlet Mizan reported on Wednesday, naming the defendant as Ali Ardestani. Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed many people it has accused of having links with Israel’s intelligence service and facilitating its operations in the country.
Two Iranian Athletes Arrested Amid Ongoing Crackdown | IranWire
Iranian security forces arrested Farhad Amiri, a rock climber from Isfahan, and Mohammad Sabzipour, a taekwondo coach and former basketball player also from Isfahan, on January 3, 2026. This is not the first time that athletes, particularly mountaineers and rock climbers from Isfahan Province, have been targeted during protests in Iran.
Trump’s NATO Ambassador: ‘The Iranian People Want to Be Free’ | The Hill
U.S. NATO Ambassador Matt Whitaker on Tuesday said the Iranian people “want to be free” and that citizens deserve to be “listened to.”
Iran Says It’s Investigating Violence at Weekend Protests | New York Times
Iran’s president ordered an investigation into violence at recent protests in the western province of Ilam, after video surfaced that appeared to show security forces shooting at demonstrators and storming a hospital. The interior ministry said Tuesday that it was sending a delegation to investigate the skirmishes, which began after gunfire erupted at a protest on Saturday. Activists said security forces had fired on the protesters, while state media accused protesters of attacking security forces, saying that some were armed.
Iran's President Pezeshkian Urges Security Forces Not to Target Protesters | Agence France Presse
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday ordered security forces not to crack down on economic protests, drawing a distinction between peaceful demonstrators and armed “rioters.” In a video released by the news agency Mehr after a cabinet meeting, Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Pezeshkian had “ordered that no security measures be taken against the demonstrators.”
Protest-Hit Iran Warily Watches the US After Its Venezuela Raid | Associated Press
Iran faces a new round of protests challenging the country’s theocracy, but it seems like the only thing people there want to talk about is half a world away: Venezuela. Since the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend, Iranian state media headlines and officials have condemned the operation. In the streets and even in some official conversations, however, there’s a growing question over whether a similar mission could target the Islamic Republic’s top officials including the supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
SHIPPING & SANCTIONS
U.S. Attempts to Intercept Oil Tanker Defying Blockade of Venezuela | New York Tines
The U.S. military was attempting to intercept a Russian-flagged oil tanker that defied America’s blockade on Venezuela’s energy exports, Russian state news media reported on Wednesday, which would sharply escalate a confrontation with Moscow after the ouster of its ally, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. A U.S. official confirmed that an American military operation was underway. . . . The tanker—known until recently as the Bella 1 and now called the Marinera—has been registered as a Russian vessel, and Russia has sent at least one naval vessel to meet and escort it, according to a U.S. official briefed on the operation.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Cooking Oil Becomes Scarce in Iran After Subsidy Removal | IranWire
Cooking oil has become both expensive and scarce in Iran after the government implemented its policy of removing subsidized exchange rates and shifting toward a single currency rate.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senators Say US Will Hit Iran if It Rebuilds Nuclear, Missile Programs | Iran International
“If they go forward again and start building up nuclear facilities, yeah, I think Trump’s going to bomb the hell out of them,” Republican Senator Rick Scott said. . . . “We should be considering what action may be appropriate if Iran progresses with its missile building and nuclear programs, which are obviously a pressing and dire threat to us and Israel,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal was quoted as saying.
IRAQ & IRAN
Iran's IRGC Is Building a 600km Security Wall ‘Inside’ Iraq, Raising Sovereignty Concerns | New Arab
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has built a wall extending two kilometres into Iraqi territory and spanning nearly 600 kilometres across the Kurdistan Region. Iraqi authorities deny the wall's construction, which critics say breaches Iraq's sovereignty. Kurdish sources told The New Arab that the wall aims to restrict the movement of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and prevent weapons smuggling into Iran.
ISRAEL & IRAN
Upon his return from a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a small, sensitive cabinet meeting with Israel’s security officials. He presented the understandings and agreements reached in Washington regarding the continued freedom of action for Israel across all arenas: Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen and the West Bank.+