Activists say over 500 killed in crackdown on Iran protests as Trump weighs steps

Activists say over 500 killed in crackdown on Iran protests as Trump weighs steps

ToI Staff

US President Donald Trump will be briefed by senior officials in his administration later this week on possible responses to the deadly violence in Iran, where hundreds of protesters have reportedly been killed and thousands more detained over the past two weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing US officials.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to retaliate against Iran’s leaders if protesters are killed, and on Saturday said that the US was “ready to help” Iranians achieve freedom.

The protests in Iran, now in their 15th day, began as economic demonstrations but escalated rapidly into calls for the collapse of the Islamic Republic and regime change. Tehran has responded forcefully to the demonstrations, and activists said on Sunday that at least 538 people had been killed since December 28.

The US president’s meeting, planned for Tuesday, will be a discussion about possible next steps, including military strikes, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on Iran’s government and boosting anti-government sources online, the Journal reported.

The New York Times and the Journal reported Saturday that Trump had been presented with military options for a strike, but hadn’t made a final decision.

Even if the US does choose to proceed with military action, the UK’s Sunday Times suggested that this would not happen in the immediate future.

According to the newspaper, the US military has informed Trump that it is not yet ready to launch strikes and needs more time to prepare. Officials in the Middle East have communicated that they need additional time to bolster both personnel and defenses in the region before they can proceed with strikes, the report said.

The Qatari Al Araby Television Network reported, however, that Israel believes the US will strike Iran sooner rather than later.

As Washington weighs its options, Tehran has continued to pin blame on Israel and the US for the unrelenting protests, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accusing the two countries of trying to “sow chaos and disorder” in the Islamic Republic.

“Protesting is the people’s right,” he said in an interview with state TV on Sunday, while warning that protesters “should not be allowed to disrupt society.”

“The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB. “If people have a concern we will hear them, it is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is not to allow rioters to come and disrupt society.”

He accused Israel and the US of “trying to escalate this unrest with regard to the economic discussion and solutions we are working on.”

“They have taken some people here inside and abroad and trained them. They brought terrorists in from abroad into the country,” he claimed.

Against the backdrop of Pezeshkian’s warnings about “rioters,” the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that more than 10,600 people across Iran had been detained.

It said that 490 protesters had been killed, in addition to 48 members of Iran’s security forces, and warned that the death toll was likely to continue to rise.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult.

The activist group, which relies on activists in Iran crosschecking information, has offered accurate tolls in previous rounds of unrest in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian government has not offered any overall casualty figures for the demonstrations, but has praised security forces for their actions against protesters.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned Sunday that the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if the US were to strike Iran. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments during an address in parliament, which was broadcast live on state television.

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”

Lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”

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F-16 shot down in Ukraine

F-16 shot down in Ukraine – Russian commander

RT

A Russian commander has said that his S-300 air defense battery shot down a US-made F-16 fighter jet operated by Ukraine.

In an interview aired on Russia-1 on Sunday, the commander, identified by the callsign Sever (North), told journalist Vladimir Solovyov that the American-supplied aircraft was “the most interesting target” his unit had encountered.

He said the battery fired two missiles at the F-16, with the first “damaging” the aircraft and the second “delivering the final blow.”

“It took us a lot of time to prepare for this operation. We were tracking it and anticipating it. The enemy boasted that these planes were indestructible. As it turns out, they fall out of the sky just like the rest,” Sever said. He did not specify when the downing occurred.

Ukraine began receiving F-16s in August 2024 and has since confirmed the loss of four aircraft in combat.

Hungary: Britain and France want to ‘set Europe on fire’

Britain and France want to ‘set Europe on fire’ – Hungary

RT

Britain and France risk dragging Europe into an all-out war with Russia with their plans to deploy troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said.

On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a declaration of intent with Ukraine to establish “military hubs”in the country after a peace deal is signed with Moscow. UK Defense Secretary John Healey later said during a visit to Kiev that London would spend $270 million on equipping units ready to become part of a “multinational force.”

Hungary has consistently opposed further escalation with Russia and has urged the EU and UK to focus on diplomacy. Speaking at a congress of the ruling conservative Fidesz party on Saturday, Szijjarto said the “war fanaticism”of Western European leaders was “throwing Hungary into the greatest danger.”

“Last weekend, a statement was released in Paris announcing the two European nuclear powers’ decision to send their troops to Ukraine. Essentially, this means that the European nuclear powers are starting a war. Their goal, let us be clear, is to engulf all of Europe in flames,” the diplomat said.

Szijjarto argued that the EU viewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as “the only obstacle” to its plans and was seeking to replace him with a pro-Ukrainian leader in parliamentary elections scheduled for April.

“If we win the election, we will stay out of the war,” he said. “If we do not win, then the Brussels–Kiev plan will be implemented.”

Under the plan outlined in Paris, Britain and France would deploy troops to help build protected weapons facilities and take part in US-led truce monitoring. The US has ruled out sending its own soldiers to Ukraine.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would treat any Western troops or military sites in Ukraine as “a foreign intervention” posing a threat to its security.

Russia has listed Ukrainian neutrality as one of its key conditions for a lasting peace, specifying no foreign troops on the ground.

U.S. Military Launches Strikes In Syria

WATCH HERE: U.S. Military Launches Strikes In Syria

Anthony

 

The U.S. military has been quite busy under President Trump.

However, unlike previous administrations, the U.S. military under President Trump has been conducting strategic strikes from the air, thereby negating the need to send U.S. troops on the ground and initiate “forever wars”.

On Saturday, the strategic strikes by the Trump administration continued, and U.S. CENTCOM reported it conducted an airstrike in Syria to take out a group of ISIS militants.

The Hill provided the latest updates on the strikes in Syria:

CENTCOM forces worked with partners in the region to carry out the strikes.

“The strikes today targeted ISIS throughout Syria as part of our ongoing commitment to root out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent future attacks, and protect American and partner forces in the region. U.S. and coalition forces remain resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States,” CENTCOM wrote in a statement posted on the social platform X.

“Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” the statement reads.

Here’s a video released by CENTCOM of the strikes:

Syria is not the only country that is on the U.S. military’s watchlist.

The New York Post reported President Trump is being given preliminary plans on possible airstrikes on Iran:

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing preliminary plans for an attack on Iran, including the option of large-scale airstrikes.

Officials are considering how to follow through on President Trump’s recent elevated threats against the Islamic Republic, including what sites might be targeted, insiders told the Wall Street Journal.

A massive aerial strike campaign on multiple Iranian military targets is one option being considered — although Washington has not reached consensus on a plan of action.

No military equipment or personnel have been moved for a potential attack, the insiders said.

The conversations do not indicate that the US will strike, with the sources explaining that the planning is routine.

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Mosque Burns in Tehran as Deadly Protests Rage on in Iran

Mosque Burns in Tehran as Deadly Protests Rage on in Iran

Video

Video shared on social media on January 9th showed a mosque burning in Tehran during Iran’s most widespread protests in years. The date when the video was recorded could not be independently verified. However, state media reported on January 9th that the mosque in the video had been burned. Protests have spread across much of Iran over the last two weeks, beginning in response to soaring inflation, but quickly turned political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule.