in Jerusalem
German airline group Lufthansa has become the first major carrier to signal a significant pullback from Israel’s skies, telling staff to prepare for an exit from the country and announcing a wide suspension of flights amid growing safety concerns, a the country closely watching the possibility of a US military strike on Iran and the consequent retaliatory attack on his territory.
The prospect has pushed Israeli armed forces to heightened readiness in anticipation of potential retaliation from Tehran, according to officials and analysts familiar with the situation. Israeli leaders increasingly regard a US strike as a question of when rather than if, even though no details have emerged about its scope, nature or timing.
Main developments in Iran today
The US and UK have evacuated personnel from a Qatar military base amid concerns Washington might soon launch military action against Iran, which could trigger retaliatory strikes.
Trump has warned he could take “very strong” action over Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters, which has killed thousands, say rights groups. The US president urged Iranians yesterday to “keep protesting”, saying “help is on the way” without elaborating further.
Tehran sent missiles to the US major base in June after Washington struck its nuclear enrichment sites; an Iranian official seemingly responding to Trump’s threat this morning highlighted that attack.
The flow of information coming out of Iran is still piecemeal due to the internet blackout – although death toll updates and reports of barbarous state violence have emerged in phone calls.
Updated
Hamas agreed on transitional administration governing Gaza
Back to Gaza and Washington announcing the second phase of the peace plan.
Witkoff in his post mentioned the establishment of the transitional administration – a 15-person Palestinan technocratic committee meant to administer post-war Gaza.
Egypt earlier today had announced the panel had been finalised – with all 15 members approved by all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, who endorsed the committee.
In a statement, the factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had agreed “to support the mediators’ efforts in forming the Palestinian National Transitional Committee to administer the Gaza Strip, while providing the appropriate environment” for it to begin its work.
The US virtual embassy in Tehran has again told its citizens they “should leave Iran now”.
They’ve told them to consider departing by land to Turkey or Armenia.
It’s the third warning in five days. Several other Western countries have also warned their citizens to leave Iran.
UK withdrawing personnel from Qatar airbase - reports
The UK has also withdrawn some airforce personnel from the Al Udeid base, reports the i Paper.
It follows reports the US has removed several troops from that base today, ahead of potential military action in Iran.
Witkoff says this second stage is about establishing a “transitional technocratic Palestinian administration” in Gaza and beginning the “full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel.”
The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences.”
These were already the aims set out by the Trump administration months ago – but negotiations in moving t the second phase had stalled, partly because disarming is a red line for Hamas.
There has not been any known progress made on these sticking points in recent weeks – it’s unclear what exactly has prompted Witkoff’s announcement now.
Updated
US launching second phase of Gaza peace plan
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy and a key US negotiator on Iran, Gaza and Ukraine says he and the president are moving to phase two of the Gaza peace deal, with the goal of disarming Hamas.
He has written on X:
We are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President’s 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.”
Updated
Iranians warned to hide their Starlink terminals
Independent media outlets and internet watchers are warning Iranians to camouflage their Starlink terminals, not share their Starlink internet, and be wary of “social engineering against activists,” as Iranian authorities are hunting for Starlink users.
“Clearly, disconnecting these devices is a big priority for the government,” says Doug Madory, director of Internet Analysis at Kentik. He says activists are growing increasingly worried about being tracked by Iranian authorities.
“It goes along with the reports of signal jamming as well as attempting to find dishes by tracing the source of the frequencies.”
This morning, Iranian activists announced that Starlink was providing free internet to users in Iran, who number in the tens of thousands – a sliver of the population – as the country enters its sixth day of internet blackout. However, said Madory, while the free internet will “defray some costs,” it likely will not connect any new users.
Iran’s internet blackout has reached 141 hours, longer than Egypt’s internet shutdown in 2011 during the height of the Tahrir square protests, which lasted for 129 hours. That shutdown was a harbinger of hundreds to come. While there have been longer shutdowns in Libya, and in smaller regions such as Tigray and Kashmir, this one is “one of the most severe in history,” said Madory, both because of the number of people affected and the severity of the disconnection.
Updated
The US embassy in Saudi Arabia has told American citizens and its own staff to “exercise increased caution” and limit travel to any military sites in the region.
Reuters also cites two European officials saying the US launching a military intervention appears likely, and could come in the next 24 hours.
Reuters has also confirmed with an unnamed official that the US is withdrawing some personnel from key bases in the region, as a precaution.
The US has troops at the forward headquarters of its Central Command at Al Udeid – which is its largest base in the Middle East – and have people at a naval fleet headquarter in Bahrain.
Three diplomats said some personnel had been told to leave the base, reports Reuters. However there are no immediate signs of troops being bussed out to a soccer stadium and shopping mall as took place hours before the Iranian missile strike in June.
A senior Iranian official brought up that strike in a message today warning the US against intervening.
Updated
US troops being evacuated from Qatar base - media outlets
US broadcasters CBS and NBC are also reporting that the US has removed staff from the Al Udeid air base in Qatar.
The administration has started “evacuating hundreds of troops” from Al Udeid reports NBC, citing unnamed US officials.
Trump is said to be weighing up any military action he might take in Iran. NBC reports the source saying that the troops are being taken out of harm’s way in case US action sparks retaliation from Iran.
Tehran did launch strikes at the Al-Udeid base last June, following the US’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear enrichment site. Troops were hastily taken off the base prior to the Iran strikes.
Qatar lies just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.
Updated
Some personnel at US military base in Qatar told to leave 'in response to regional tensions'
Qatar says some personnel at the US’s military base in the country have been told to leave “in response to the current regional tensions”.
The statement from the Gulf state’s media office provided no further detail on the order but read:
Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities.”
Updated
Amid an intense and ongoing communications blackout, France’s foreign minister said the country is considering sending Eutelsat satellite terminals to Iran to help provide internet services to locals.
Responding to a question in parliament, Jean-Noel Barrot said: “We are exploring all options, and the one you have mentioned is among them.”
In 2022, the Paris-based satellite operator accused Iran of jamming two of its satellites, something it said was “explicitly prohibited” by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations.
Amid increasing actual and threatened sanctions against Iran, our graphics team have produced this chart, showing the country’s major trading partners
Iranian families and individuals arrived in Turkey’s eastern province of Van through the Kapikoy border gate. Reuters reports that people were pulling luggage and other belongings with them as they made their way through the border gate and got on vehicles heading for nearby towns. Those asked to speak to media declined to do so, expressing fear of repercussions in Iran when they return.
Two diplomats have told Reuters there has been an increase in the numbers of people crossing from Iran to Turkey after several countries advised their citizens to leave.
However, a Turkish security official at the border said that the situation at the gate was not extraordinary, with no notable increase in the numbers arriving, but that developments there were being closely monitored.
UK working with allies on further sanctions
The UK government is working with allies on further sanctions against the Iranian regime, the prime minister has said.
Speaking in parliament at the start of Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer said: “Can I start by condemning in the strongest possible terms the sickening repression and murder of protesters in Iran.
“The contrast between the courage of the Iranian people and the brutality of their desperate regime has never been clearer.
“We’ve called out this brutality face to face, we’re working with allies on further sanctions and doing all we can to protect UK nationals.”
Updated
German police said on Wednesday that two men had climbed over a fence into the Iranian embassy in Berlin grounds and torn down an Iranian flag. Both wanted to hoist two pre-Islamic Republic flags but failed, German news agency dpa reported, according to the Associated Press.
They left the grounds when guards used pepper spray and were detained on the sidewalk outside. The incident happened late on Tuesday.
The Guardian’s graphic team have created a couple of visuals; one that shows where nationwide protests have taken place across Iran between 29 December 2025 and 13 January 2026, and another on Iran’s protest movement and how it has been affected by authorities shutting down the internet.
Mehdi Taremi did what he does best. On Saturday, the Iranian striker turned inside the area and scored for Olympiakos, a well-taken eighth goal of the season for the 33-year-old that clinched a 2-0 win at Atromitos and a place at the top of the Greek Super League. Usually, millions of people in Iran follow every step of Taremi’s European career, one that took off with Porto and has settled in Piraeus via Milan, but not this time.
The ruling regime in Tehran has cut the internet and all communications, which meant that residents of the football-loving nation also missed the non-celebration that followed. “It actually has to do with the conditions in my country,” Taremi said.
There are problems between the people and the government. The people are always with us, and that’s why we are with them. I couldn’t celebrate in solidarity with the Iranian people. I know that Olympiakos fans would like me to be happy, but I don’t celebrate the goals, in solidarity with what the Iranian people are going through.
And what they are going through seems worse than at any time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution deposed the Shah and put Ayatollah Khomeini in power. Surging inflation and a collapsing currency have sparked major anti-government protests and unrest across Iran. The response has been brutal. The ruling regime is clinging on to power by dealing out death, more repression and an internet blackout that has lasted for days. WhatsApp messages remain with one tick, emails are undelivered and websites unreachable. For the millions of people outside the country with loved ones inside, there is fear and worry.
Football has always occupied a central place in Iran, a country where the government, like many authoritarian regimes, is wary of the power of mass gatherings and their potential to turn political but is also ready to use success for its own ends. When Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup, players were told to delay their return so celebrations could subside, and in a vital 2010 qualifier, several wore green armbands in support of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi during protests over a disputed election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the declared winner, visibly tied himself to the team, visiting training sessions and lending his presidential plane for World Cup qualifiers, while at home most clubs remain closely linked, directly or indirectly, to the state.
India’s embassy in Tehran has urged all Indian nationals to leave Iran, citing what it called an “evolving situation” in the Islamic Republic.
The statement, posted on X, also advised Indian citizens to remain highly vigilant and avoid protest areas.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow needed to keep working with Iran to implement their bilateral agreements and that no other country could change the nature of ties between Russia and Iran.
Lavrov was speaking at a news conference in Moscow, reports Reuters. A senior Iranian official told the news agency on Wednesday that Tehran had warned neighbouring countries hosting US troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington carries out threats to intervene in protests in Iran.
Iran’s stockpile of missiles has increased since a 12-day war with Israel last year, Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace Cmdr Majid Mousavi said on Wednesday according to state media, after US President Donald Trump’s threats of intervention amid anti-government protests in Iran.
“We are at the peak of our readiness,” Mousavi was quoted as saying by state media, reports Reuters. He added that wartime damages had been repaired and output in various areas by the guards’ aerospace forces was higher than before June 2025.
EU leaders should increase pressure on an Iranian regime 'on its last legs', says European Parliament president
The EU should not wait for US President Donald Trump to take swift actions against the Iranian regime, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola has said in an interview, describing the Iranian regime as “on its last legs”.
EU leaders should increase the pressure on the Iranian regime as it cracks down on protesters, said Metsola in an interview with Euronews’ Europe Today show.
Metsola added that the days of “dictators will come to an end in 2026”. She told Euronews:
We are appalled by what is happening in Iran and we cannot stand idly when we see that the regime is using violence, repression and abuse to clamp down on what we believe to be fundamental freedoms.
Expanding on how she believes the Iranian regime is on “its last legs”, Metsola said:
How that happens, that’s not for us to say; it’s for the Iranian people to determine [their future], but we must support them.
If not now, when?
Earlier this week, Metsola banned Iranian diplomats from entering the premises of the European Parliament. She has also called on the EU to implement a swift response to the violent crackdown of protesters in Iran. She told Euronews:
We have seen violence, assassinations, and this is not something we will tolerate.
The EU is debating a move to list the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity and Metsola said she would be in favour of the terrorist designation.
“This has been in a position of the European Parliament for many years now, ever since we saw those brave women on the streets of Iran calling for their liberty, their rights and their dignity to be respected,” Metsola said in a reference to the Women, Life, Freedom movement which followed the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
Lorenzo Tondo reporting from Jerusalem:
Israeli and Arab officials have urged the Trump administration to hold off, for now, on any military strike against Iran, arguing that the Islamic Republic has not been sufficiently weakened for a US attack to bring about its collapse, NBC News reported on Tuesday.
The report came as the US president, Donald Trump, told reporters he had yet to decide how to respond to Iran’s killing of protesters.
According to NBC News, Israeli officials told their American counterparts that while they strongly back regime change and US efforts to pursue it, they fear that foreign military action alone may prove insufficient. Instead, they suggested Washington consider alternative measures to destabilise the government and bolster protesters, who they believe could further weaken the regime before any strikes play a decisive role.
Among the options discussed were helping Iranians circumvent communications blackouts, tightening economic sanctions, carrying out cyber-attacks, or launching targeted strikes against senior figures in Iran in the hope of accelerating the regime’s downfall.
One Arab official quoted in the report said there was a “lack of enthusiasm from the neighbourhood” for a US-led attack at this stage, while another warned that any escalation by Israel or the UScould have the opposite effect, uniting Iranians behind the authorities.
Some personnel have been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid airbase in Qatar by Wednesday evening, three diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday. The US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment for the news agency.
It comes as a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran had warned regional countries it would strike US military bases in those countries in case of a US attack (see 9.06am GMT). The Guardian was unable to independently verify the reports.
Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest US base housing about 10,000 troops. Ahead of the US airstrikes on Iran in June some personnel were moved off US bases in the Middle East.
Iranian state media reported that the head of Iran’s top security body, Ali Larijani, had spoken to the foreign minister of Qatar and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had spoken to his Emirati and Turkish counterparts. The countries are all US allies.
Araghchi told UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “calm has prevailed” and that Iranians were determined to defend their sovereignty and security from any foreign interference, Reuters reported, citing state media.
However, activists said early on Wednesday that the death toll from the crackdown on protests in Iran has increased to at least 2,571, including 12 children (see 1.43am GMT).
Dozens of Pakistani students studying in Iran have returned home through a remote southwestern border crossing, a Pakistani immigration official said on Wednesday.
Federal Investigation Agency spokesperson in Quetta city, Samina Raisani, said about 60 students crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through Gabd border in Balochistan province with valid travel documents.
More students were expected to return through the same crossing later Wednesday, she said.
Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Tuesday that Iranian universities had rescheduled exams and permitted international students to leave the country.
Iranian mass funeral in Tehran to include 300 bodies
Iranian state television said Wednesday’s mass funeral in Tehran would include 300 bodies of security force members and civilians. The funeral is expected to take place at the University of Tehran under heavy security, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which is tracking the death toll, said more than 2,550 people have been killed, including 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.
Gauging the demonstrations and the death toll from abroad has grown more difficult and the AP says it has been unable to independently assess the toll given the communications being disrupted in the country.
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan stressed the need for talks to resolve current regional tensions in a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, a Turkish foreign ministry source has told Reuters.
A Turkish diplomatic source separately said Turkey was also in touch with US officials, amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene in nationwide protests in Iran.
A senior Iranian official earlier told Reuters direct communications between Tehran and Washington had been suspended (see 8.58am GMT).
Reuters are also reporting that a senior Iranian official told the news agency on Wednesday that Iran has warned regional countries it will strike US military bases in those countries in case of a US attack.
The official told Reuters:
Tehran has told regional countries, from Saudi Arabia and UAE to Turkey, that US bases in those countries will be attacked if US targets Iran … asking these countries to prevent Washington from attacking Iran.
It is unclear if the senior Iranian official that spoke to Reuters is the same person as referred to in the previous post (see 8.58am GMT). The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the reports.
Updated
Direct Iran-US communications have been suspended, senior Iranian official says - reports
Direct communications between Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff have been suspended, a senior official told Reuters on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene amid nationwide protests in Iran.
The senior official added that US threats undermine diplomatic efforts and that potential meetings between the two officials to find a diplomatic solution to a decades-long nuclear dispute have been cancelled.
Security service personnel in Iran have apparently been searching for Starlink dishes, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes, writes the Associated Press (AP).
While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in homes, and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.
Earlier we reported on satellite internet provider Starlink offering free service in Iran, according to activists (see 3.30am GMT).
Updated
In case you missed our report yesterday on how hundreds of gunshot eye injuries have been found in one Iranian hospital amid a brutal crackdown on protests, here is the full piece:
Associated Press (AP) reports that preparations are under way in Iran for the mass funeral of 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations.
Plainclothes security forces still milled around some neighbourhoods, though anti-riot police and members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force appeared to have been sent back to their barracks, reports the AP.
“We are very frightened because of these sounds [of gunfire] and protests,” said anIranian shopping for fruits and vegetables on Wednesday, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. She added:
We have heard many are killed and many are injured. Now peace has been restored but schools are closed and I’m scared to send my children to school again.
Ahmadreza told the AP he witnessed one demonstration in Tehran and was shocked by the use of firearms by authorities. He said:
People were out to express themselves and protest, but quickly it turned into a war zone. The people do not have guns. Only the security forces have guns.
The nationwide shutdown of the internet by authorities in Iran, which activists fear is aimed at masking the true scale of a crackdown on protests, has now lasted more than 132 hours, a monitor said on Wednesday.
In a post on X on Wednesday, internet freedom monitor Netblocks wrote:
Update: Metrics show Iran remains offline as the country wakes to another day of digital darkness.
With the internet blackout now past its 132nd hour, early reports indicate thousands of casualties. The true extent of the killings is obscured by the absence of connectivity.
China opposes any outside interference in Iran’s internal affairs, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington would take “very strong action” against Tehran.
China does not condone the use or the threat of force in international relations, Mao Ning, spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a regular news conference when asked about China’s position after Trump’s comments.
Trump has urged protesters in Iran to keep protesting and said that help was on the way.
Iran judiciary chief vows fast trials for suspects arrested over protests
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has more on the comments made by Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, broadcast by state television.
“If a person burned someone, beheaded someone and set them on fire then we must do our work quickly,” Mohseni Ejei said on a visit to a prison holding protest detainees.
Iranian news agencies also quoted him as saying the trials should be held “in public” and said he had spent five hours in a prison in Tehran to examine the cases.
Rights groups say thousands have been arrested and fear the judiciary will make extensive use of capital punishment.
Updated
The head of Iran’s judiciary signaled on Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television online, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Mohseni-Ejei said:
If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly.
He added:
If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.
His comments stand as a direct challenge to Trump, who warned Iran about executions in an interview with CBS aired on Tuesday. “We will take very strong action,” Trump warned. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”
Iran’s crackdown on demonstrations may be the most violent in the country’s contemporary history, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday.
“What we suspect is that this is the most violent repression in Iran’s contemporary history and that it must absolutely stop,” Barrot said.
The US-based HRANA rights group said it had verified the deaths of 2,571 people during Iran’s protests, reports Reuters.
This includes 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 children aged under 18 and nine non-protester civilians.
Iran’s UN mission has posted on X saying that Washington’s “playbook” would “fail again”.
“US fantasies and policy toward Iran are rooted in regime change, with sanctions, threats, engineered unrest, and chaos serving as the modus operandi to manufacture a pretext for military intervention. This playbook has failed before. The Iranian people will defend their country—and, most assuredly, it will fail again,” it said.
It shared earlier comments by Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, in which he called for the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council to condemn “all forms of incitement to violence, threats to use force, and interference in Iran’s internal affairs by the United States”.
Updated
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran who was expelled during the 1979 revolution, has released a video statement urging the people of Iran to continue to resist the regime, and urging members of the army to join with the public.
In the message, he said:
My compatriots, the world has not only seen and heard your voice and courage - it is now responding. By now, you have probably heard the message from the President of the United States. Help is on the way. Continue the fight, as you have done so far. Do not allow this regime to create the illusion that life is normal. After all the massacres, there is a sea of blood between us and this regime.
Save the names of all these criminals. They will be prosecuted for what they have done.
... I also have a special message for members of the army: you are the national military of Iran, you have a duty to protect the lives of your compatriots. You do not have much time. Join them as soon as possible.
Updated
For the first time in days, Iranians were able to make calls abroad from their mobiles on Tuesday, according to reporting by Associated Press. Texting services have not been restored, however, and nor has the internet.
Although Iranians were able to call abroad, they could not receive calls from outside the country, several people in the capital told Associated Press. The internet remained blocked, they said, though it is possible to access some government-approved websites.
Cloudfare - an internet infrastructure provider, and one of several companies and monitors tracking the status of internet traffic in Iran – said traffic volumes have remained “at a fraction of a percent of previous levels”. Its latest update as of 01:00 UTC (which is about three hours and 30 minutes ago), shows a continued widespread blackout. Iran has been under an internet shutdown since Thursday night.
Brief windows of connectivity were observed on Friday, but these did not last, according to Cloudfare.
Netblocks, an independent global internet monitor, also notes that while some phone calls from Iran are connecting, there is “no secure way to communicate” and the general public remain cut off from the outside world.
Updated
Starlink offers free service in Iran, activists say
Satellite internet provider Starlink now offers free service in Iran, activists said on Wednesday.
Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who has helped get the units into Iran, told the Associated Press that the free service had started. Other activists also confirmed in messages online that the service was free. Starlink have not immediately commented.
Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with the outside world since authorities shut down the internet on Thursday night.
The Guardian has previously reported on the Iranians who have risked their lives to send information out of the country during the protests.
Global rallies to support protesters in Iran
People around the world have been rallying over the last week in support of the protests in Iran. One of our picture editors has curated this selection.
There’s been plenty of Iran news in the past 12 hours. All eyes are on the White House to see what action Trump might decide to take against Iran. It has also just ticked past 6am on Wednesday in Tehran, and there are reports Erfan Soltani will be executed in Iran today.
Here’s a summary to bring you up to speed:
Donald Trump has said the US “will take very strong action” against Iran if the regime starts to execute people as part of their crackdown on the spiralling protests.
Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old man arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, according to the Iranian Kurdish rights group, Hengaw. Authorities had told the family that the death sentence was final, Hengaw reported, citing a source close to the family.
The US president has urged the protests to continue, and again suggested US military action could follow. “Iranian Patriots, keep protesting – take over your institutions!!! … help is on its way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, a day after the White House press secretary said airstrikes were among “many, many options” the US president was considering.
More than 2,500 people have been killed in the protests – more than 90% of whom were demonstrators – and over 18,000 people have been arrested, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
Doctors in Iran have described overwhelmed hospitals and emergency wings overflowing with protesters who had been shot. One ophthalmologist in Tehran has documented more than 400 eye injuries from gunshots in a single hospital.
The US state department has said US citizens should leave Iran now and “if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or Türkiye”.
Trump announced that he was cancelling meetings with Iranian officials “until the senseless killing” stops, signalling a possible breakdown in de-escalation efforts. Trump was expected to receive a briefing on Tuesday night on the scale of casualties in Iran.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is offering people in Iran free internet through Starlink’s satellite service, according to Bloomberg News, as the internet blackout in the country surpassed the five-day mark.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met in secret with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former Iranian crown prince, last weekend, Axios reported. A senior US official told the outlet the pair discussed the protests. In previous messages that have been blocked by the Iranian government internet shutdown, he has said that he is ready to lead a transition.
In response to Trump’s social media post that “help is on the way,” Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the US president was inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security and seeking to destabilise the government. “The United States and the Israeli regime bear direct and undeniable legal responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives, particularly among the youth,” he wrote in a letter to the UN security council.
Russia on Tuesday condemned “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics, saying any repeat of last year’s US strikes would have “disastrous consequences” for the Middle East and international security.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy all summoned Iranian ambassadors in protest over the crackdown. “The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
Updated
Trump warns Iran ‘it’s not going to work out good’ if hangings begin
Just coming back to some of Donald Trump’s comments during an interview with CBS on Tuesday night (US time).
The CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil asked Trump about hangings reportedly set to begin taking place in Iran on Wednesday.
Trump replied: “We will take very strong action. If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”
When pressed further about what “strong action” means, Trump mentioned the recent US strikes on Venezuela and the 2019 killing of then Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The president then turned to Iran:
We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen. And, you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing. When they start killing thousands of people. And now you’re telling me about hanging. We’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good.
Updated
Iranian authorities insist they have regained control of the country after successive nights of mass protests since Thursday.
Rights groups accuse the government of fatally shooting protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now surpassed the five-day mark.
International phone links were restored on Tuesday, but only for outgoing calls, according to some reports, and the quality remained spotty, with frequent interruptions.
Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed during the protests, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies.
Authorities in Tehran have announced a mass funeral ceremony in the capital on Wednesday for the “martyrs” of recent days.
Updated
Protester death toll jumps to at least 2,571, says activist group
The death toll from a crackdown on protests in Iran has jumped to at least 2,571, including 12 children, activists said early on Wednesday.
The figure came from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in multiple rounds of unrest in Iran in recent years.
The activist group said 2,403 of the dead were protesters and 147 were government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.
With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
That death toll dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Updated
Erfan Soltani reportedly facing imminent execution
Erfan Soltani is reportedly facing execution in Iran on Wednesday after he was tried, convicted and sentenced, following his arrest on Thursday.
The 26-year-old was arrested in Karaj, a city on the north-west outskirts of Tehran, at the peak of the protests before the internet black-out. Soltani is one of the many thousands of protesters arrested last week.
Amnesty International has highlighted his case, warning of concerns that Iranian authorities might “once again resort to swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush and deter dissent”.
According to information gathered by Amnesty, the group said an informed sourced learned on 11 January that officials had told Soltani’s family he was sentenced to death. Soltani had lost contact with loved ones on 8 January amid mass protests and the regime’s internet shutdown, the group said.
Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China, according to monitors. Last year, it hanged at least 1,500 people, Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said.
Donald Trump flew back to Washington DC on Tuesday evening, to be briefed on potential US action in Iran. It is just after 8pm in DC, and 4.30am on Wednesday in Iran.
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Iran crisis. Donald Trump has said the US “will take very strong action” against Iran if the regime starts to execute people as part of their crackdown on the spiralling protests inside the country.
Trump told CBS News: “When they start killing thousands of people – and now you’re telling me about hanging. We’ll see how that’s going to work out for them.”
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, has reported that Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old man arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, will be executed on Wednesday. Authorities had told the family that the death sentence was final, Hengaw reported, citing a source close to the family.
The US president has urged the protests to continue, and again suggested US military action could follow. “Iranian Patriots, keep protesting – take over your institutions!!! … help is on its way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, a day after the White House press secretary said airstrikes were among “many, many options” the US president was considering.
Increasingly credible reports have emerged that thousands of people had been killed in the protests. The reports range from 2,000 to as many as 20,000, according to two CBS sources citing medical records from hospitals. The Iranian regime has not provided any official numbers.
In other developments:
The US state department has said US citizens should leave Iran now and “if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or Türkiye”. The US virtual embassy for Iran says citizens should “plan alternative means of communication” due to “continued internet outages” and “have a plan for departing that does not rely on US government help”.
Donald Trump announced that he was cancelling meetings with Iranian officials “until the senseless killing” stops, signalling a possible breakdown in de-escalation efforts. Trump is expected to receive a briefing on Tuesday night on the scale of casualties in Iran. His vice-president JD Vance, who had reportedly been urging Trump to try diplomacy first, is chairing a a National Security Council principals meeting on Iran.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is offering people in Iran free internet through Starlink’s satellite service, according to Bloomberg News, as the internet blackout in the country surpassed the five-day mark. The subscription fee has been waived so that people with receivers in Iran can access service without paying, according to Bloomberg’s report.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met in secret with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former Iranian crown prince, last weekend, Axios reported. A senior US official told the outlet the pair discussed the protests. In previous messages that have been blocked by the Iranian government internet shutdown, he has said that he is ready to lead a transition. He has also pushed for a referendum and nonviolent change in the country.
