The developments came as US President Donald Trump said Iran appeared to be approaching a "red line" set by his administration over the treatment of protesters
Iran's foreign minister said on Monday that the situation has come under total control after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country. Abbas Araghchi also said that the protests turned violent and bloody to give an excuse for US President Donald Trump to intervene. Araghchi offered no evidence for his statements, which came after activists reported more than 500 people in Iran have been killed during the past two weeks of protests the vast majority of them demonstrators. Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
The protests which began over worsening economic conditions on the 28th of December and have since evolved into broader demonstrations opposing the leadership of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Donald Trump said Iran may be nearing a red line as protests spread nationwide, deaths rise and Washington reviews strong options while closely monitoring the situation
World leaders and investors are watching closely. US commanders have briefed Trump on options for military strikes, according to a White House official
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday (local time) urged Iranian authorities to "exercise maximum restraint" amid unrest in the country, stressing that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly "must be fully respected" and "protected".The UN chief's remarks come amid protests in Iran that killed at least 420 protesters during anti-government demonstrations over the past 15 days, including eight children, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), CNN reported.In a post on X, the UN Secretary-General emphasised the need to refrain from the "unnecessary or disproportionate use of force" while handling public demonstrations."Shocked by reports of violence & excessive use of force by the Iranian authorities against protesters resulting in deaths & injuries in recent days. The rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected. I urge the Iranian authorities
A crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed at least 544 people and even more are feared dead, activists have said, while Tehran warned that the US military and Israel would be legitimate targets if America uses force to protect demonstrators. Another over 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, 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. Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran's security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the
The 65-year-old exiled crown prince and the son of the late Shah (King) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, called Iran's current leadership a "terror regime"
As protests driven by economic distress spread across Iran, US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering military strike options even as US officials weigh risks of escalation
Pahlavi, the 65-year-old exiled crown prince and son of the late Shah (King), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in a video message posted on X, said that the protesters are being lauded for their courage
Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy reached the two-week mark Sunday, as the death toll in violence surrounding the demonstrations reached at least 116 people killed, activists said. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency gave the new figure, saying arrests had reached more than 2,600 people as well. The agency has been accurate in multiple rounds of unrest previously. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite US warnings from President Donald Trump that America could intervene to protect peaceful demonstrators. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with the Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an enemy of God, a death-penalty charge.
Movahedi Azad said individuals who have taken part in the protests, assisted rioters, or contributed to acts of vandalism and insecurity would face swift and uncompromising legal action
Just after 8 pm Thursday, Iran's theocracy pulled the plug and disconnected the Islamic Republic's 85 million people from the rest of the world. Following a playbook used both in demonstrations and in war, Iran severed the internet connections and telephone lines that connect its people to the vast diaspora in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Until now, even while facing strict sanctions over the country's nuclear programme, Iranians still could access mobile phone apps and even websites blocked by the theocracy, using virtual private networks to circumvent restrictions. Thursday's decision sharply limits people from sharing images and witness accounts of the nationwide protests over Iran's ailing economy that have grown to pose the biggest challenge to the government in years. It also could provide cover for a violent crackdown after the Trump administration warned Iran's government about consequences for further deaths among demonstrators. As the country effectively goes .
Separate mobile-camera footage from Fardis, a city about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Tehran, showed at least seven bodies covered in blood inside a building
Iran witnessed fresh protests as Reza Pahlavi urged nationwide strikes, street mobilisation and signalled his readiness to return to the 'homeland at the time of national revolution's victory'
Social media footage trickling out of Iran amid a blanket shutdown of internet and telecommunications networks showed hundreds of thousands marching and chanting anti-regime slogans
Galloping inflation and a currency crisis have provoked demonstrations across the country
Internet, phone lines blocked, flights cancelled
The Iranian navy was taking part in the drills while protests grow back home against the Islamic Republic's leadership
Civil unrest in major Middle Eastern producer Iran and concerns about the spread of the Russia-Ukraine war to Russian oil exports have increased supply worries