9 h. ago Iran’s leader says ‘thousands’ killed in protests, Trump a ‘criminal’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely”, Khamenei said without offering details in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic had evidence to support the claim. Iran did not intend to push the country towards...

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29 h. ago Iran cleric demands death for protesters, threatens Trump amid unrest

A hardline cleric leading Friday prayers in Iran’s capital demanded the death penalty for protesters detained in a nationwide crackdown and directly threatened US President Donald Trump, showing the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic over demonstrations that have challenged their authority. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami’s sermon, carried by Iranian state radio, sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!” Executions, as well as...

Events

34 h. ago Putin offers Moscow as mediator in Iran crisis amid tensions with Israel, Trump threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Iran in separate calls on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and said that Moscow was willing to mediate in the region, the Kremlin said. Tehran has cracked down hard on nationwide protests that broke out late last month, prompting US President Donald Trump to warn he might intervene. Last year, Israel and the United States both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought...

Politics

49 h. ago Iran halts hundreds of executions as Gulf allies pull Trump back from strike, US says

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from US President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations. Iran was shaken over the past week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic Republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the past few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet...

Politics

49 h. ago US says Iran halted 800 protester executions after Trump warnings

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations. Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet...

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54 h. ago Minneapolis on edge as Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act and send in troops

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

Politics

64 h. ago Man shot by federal officer in Minneapolis as tensions flare over crackdown

A federal officer shot a man in the leg on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, a week after the fatal shooting of a local woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent touched off angry protests and an intensifying clash between state leaders and the Trump administration. The shooting followed a targeted traffic stop shortly before 7pm Central Time, when the man fled in his vehicle and crashed into a parked car, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland...

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2 d. ago Trump claims killing in Iran ‘has stopped’, even as Tehran signals executions ahead

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a vague statement that he had been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The US president’s claims, which were made with few details, come after he told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not...

Politics

2 d. ago Trump claims ‘killing in Iran is stopping’, plans for executions halted

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a vague statement that he had been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The US president’s claims, which were made with few details, come after he told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not...

Politics

2 d. ago Trump claims ‘killing in Iran is stopping’, but keeps US options open

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a vague statement that he had been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The US president’s claims, which were made with few details, come after he told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not...

Politics

3 d. ago Iran signals fast trials and executions for detained protesters after Trump warning

The head of Iran’s judiciary signalled on Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump. The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,571, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. That figure...

Events

4 d. ago Trump tells Iranians ‘help is on its way’ as protest death toll hits 2,000

The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran spiked on Tuesday to at least 2,003 people killed, activists said, and Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown. The number of dead, as reported by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), dwarfs that in any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. These demonstrations,...

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4 d. ago Trump urges on protesters in Iran as crackdown death toll hits 2,000

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, saying help is on the way, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years. Iran in turn accused Trump of encouraging political destabilisation and inciting violence. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might...

Events

4 d. ago Trump urges on protesters in Iran as crackdown death toll passes 2,000

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, saying help is on the way, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years. Iran in turn accused Trump of encouraging political destabilisation and inciting violence. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might...

Events

4 d. ago Trump urges on protesters in Iran as crackdown death toll surges

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, saying help is on the way, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years. Iran in turn accused Trump of encouraging political destabilisation and inciting violence. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might...

Events

4 d. ago Why China may not act in Iran even though it has ‘more to lose’ than in Venezuela

China has “more to lose” compared with Venezuela if Iran’s rulers should fall, according to diplomatic observers, but it is expected to avoid direct intervention. The country is facing a wave of anti-government protests fuelled by economic hardship in which hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters are thought to have been killed. US President Donald Trump has said he was looking at “some very strong options” and this week announced a new set of tariffs targeting countries that maintained...

Politics

5 d. ago As Trump threatens Iran strikes, China denounces use of force in Middle East

China has voiced opposition to the use of force in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran over escalating protests there. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday said Beijing hoped Iran’s government and its people would overcome “current difficulties” and uphold stability in the country. “We always oppose interference in other countries’ internal affairs,” she said at a press conference, responding to a question about Trump’s threats to attack...

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6 d. ago Iran warns US and Israel will be targets if Trump strikes over protests

Tehran warned the US and Israel against any intervention over nationwide protests in Iran, as demonstrations entered their third week and fatalities mounted. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said deaths linked to the recent unrest, which began over a currency crisis on December 28, had reached 116, with most killed by live ammunition or pellet gunfire. Saturday marked the third night of intensified nationwide demonstrations, following calls by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of...

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8 d. ago Top South Korean official calls Trump’s Venezuela raid ‘violent atrocity’, stirring unease

Senior officials in South Korea’s Prime Minister’s Office are voicing concern over Park Seok-woon, a committee chairman under its authority, after he joined protests criticising US President Donald Trump and his administration over American military operations in Venezuela. Park, a long-time liberal activist, took part in a rally on Monday in front of the US embassy in Seoul, following an American military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013,...

Politics

1 week ago Why Iran may not be the next Venezuela despite twin threat from protests and Trump

The recent US strike against Venezuela is likely to deepen the Iranian leadership’s concerns about further intervention from Washington but analysts do not expect the leadership will be targeted directly in the same way as Nicolas Maduro. They pointed to the higher geopolitical stakes in the Middle East compared with Latin America and the greater role played by China, Russia and other countries. Before the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the leadership in Iran had already been...

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