Iran Watch

Iranians could call abroad on mobile phones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed.

Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist there. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.

President Donald Trump announced Monday, January 12, that Iran’s primary trading partners will be met with 25 percent tariffs on most goods. The announcement comes amid several days of sustained unrest across the country, which has left dozens of anti-regime protesters dead, according to figures from several human rights organizations.

The measure targets nations such as China, India, Turkey, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, which are among Iran’s primary trading partners. The White House stated that this policy applies to any goods imported into the United States from those countries, potentially increasing costs for American businesses and consumers.

“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America. This Order is final and conclusive,” the president posted on Truth Social.

Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters has reignited a long-running debate within the European Union over designating the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — widely seen as a key force behind the repression — as a terrorist organisation.

Placing the most powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces on the EU’s terrorist list would put the IRGC alongside groups such as Daesh, al-Qaeda, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

A terrorist group designation would subject its members to travel bans, asset freezes and “a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to those listed”, according to rules established by the European Council.

Iran’s chief coroner has laid the blame for the deaths of demonstrators in Iran on what he said were “terrorists,” claiming forensic examinations revealed victims whose “throats had been slit” and others shot at close range with hunting shotguns.

Detailing a series of killings during a Supreme Judicial Council meeting, Abbas Masjedi-Arani, head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organisation, said a large number of victims were killed with knives and double-barrelled shotguns.

President Donald Trump spoke more about Iran during an interview with Tony Dokoupil on CBS Evening News, spanning from promises of help to the endgame.

Trump reiterated his promise to Iranians that help is on the way as they battle the brutal regime:

DOKOUPIL: Americans woke up this morning and they saw that you said, Help is on the way. What do you mean by that?

TRUMP: Well, there’s a lot of help on the way, and in different forms, including economic help from our standpoint, and not going to help Iran very much. And you know, we put Iran out of business with their nuclear capacity. And now, depending on what’s actually happening, nobody has been able to give us accurate numbers about how many people they’ve killed. Well, on that point, looks like it could be a pretty substantial number, and that’s going to be a lot of problems, a lot of problems

Protesters are ‘enemies of Allah’: Iran warns of death penalty in crackdown

THE LAST DEADLY STEP: Mohammad Movahedi Azad, Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has pronounced that arrested protesters will now be executed. This announcement came after a scheduled televised address by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was cancelled. pic.twitter.com/jlMnmQeCmE

— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) January 10, 2026

Remarkable that this is the street presence in Iran despite estimates of more than 2,000 murdered by the regime in the last few days and nearly 3 days of a total communications blackout in Iran.

All eyes must stay on Iran. It’s past time for this regime to face the music for… pic.twitter.com/vGrS0NzZGJ

— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) January 11, 2026

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Nationwide unrest challenging Iran’s theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city Saturday night and into Sunday morning, crossing the two-week mark as an outside monitoring group said at least 116 people had been killed.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network of contacts inside the country, the death toll from clashes between protests and Iran’s security forces has climbed steadily, and more than 2,600 others have been detained over the last two weeks.

Faced with its most significant challenge in years, Iran’s theocratic rulers have issued increasingly stern threats to what it claims are agitators being influenced by the U.S. and Israel — and answered threats of a U.S. intervention by President Trump with corresponding threats of their own.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes the Islamic Republic, as threatened by President Trump. Qalibaf made the threat as lawmakers rushed the dais in the Iranian parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”

The U.S. Military on Saturday launched a series of large-scale airstrikes targeting Islamic State (ISIS) positions across Syria.

These operations, conducted under the broader Operation Hawkeye Strike, involved more than 20 aircraft, including F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, MQ-9 Reaper drones from the U.S. Air Force, and F-16 fighter jets from the Jordanian Air Force. Over 90 precision-guided munitions were deployed against at least 35 targets, which included weapons caches, supply routes, and other infrastructure supporting ISIS activities.

The strikes commenced around 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time and were coordinated with partner forces on the ground. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported no immediate civilian casualties or collateral damage assessments, emphasizing the actions as part of an ongoing effort to degrade ISIS capabilities and prevent attacks on U.S. and allied personnel.