Iran claims protests 'under control' as Trump floats negotiations

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The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired near its peacekeepers on Monday, and warned that such attacks were becoming "disturbingly common".

"UNIFIL peacekeepers observed two Merkava tanks move" from an Israel army position inside Lebanese territory "further into Lebanon" on Monday, the force said in a statement.

"The peacekeepers requested through liaison channels that the tanks stop their activity," the statement said.

Later, "one of the tanks fired three shells from its main gun, with two impacts approximately 150 meters away from the peacekeepers," UNIFIL said, adding that "as the peacekeepers moved away for safety, they were continuously tracked with a laser from the tanks".

The statement reported no casualties but noted UNIFIL had informed the Israeli army of its activities in the area in advance.

The Palestinian National Initiative movement said on Monday that Israel has demolished more than 2,500 homes in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, calling for an international investigation into these crimes.

The Initiative said that the demolitions have "escalated dangerously despite the announcement of a ceasefire, as occupation forces have demolished more than 2,500 homes since that announcement, in a blatant violation of all international laws and conventions."

It added that the continued policy of systematic demolition and destruction of homes and infrastructure constitutes "a war crime and a crime against humanity," according to the statement.

The movement further said that the continuation of this policy clearly exposes the "falsehood of the occupation’s claims of commitment to de-escalation," and confirms that the real aim is to "deepen the humanitarian catastrophe and impose a reality of forced displacement and collective punishment on our people in Gaza."

The Initiative held the Israeli government "fully responsible for these crimes."

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a 25 percent tariff on any country trading with Iran, amid Tehran's violent crackdown on a wave of protests.

"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," Trump said on Truth Social.

Danish shipping firm Maersk said on Monday that another of its vessels successfully navigated the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, weeks after it tested the route as a ceasefire in Gaza raised hopes for normal shipping traffic.

"On 11-12 January 2026, the U.S.-flagged vessel Maersk Denver voyage 552W, currently operating on the MECL service, successfully transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and into the Red Sea," Maersk said in a statement.

"Assuming that security thresholds continue to be met, we will continue our stepwise approach towards gradually resuming navigation along the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. There are no additional sailings to announce at this time," Maersk added.

Iran has "secretly released" a Greek-owned tanker it seized for two years, monitoring service Tanker Trackers said in a post on X on Monday.

It did not provide further details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the world had to help Iranians build on protests to engineer change to free them from rule that brought evil to their own and other countries, including Ukraine.

Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, described the nationwide protests gripping Iran as an "uprising".

He said the unrest showed that Russia had to rethink its close links with Iran, which have included its wide use of Iranian-made "Shahed" drones in the nearly four-year-old war against Kyiv.

"Every normal person on Earth very much wants the people of Iran to finally be fortunate enough to free themselves from the regime that exists there and that has brought so much evil, including to Ukraine and to other countries," Zelensky said.

"It is important that the world not miss this moment, when change is possible. Every leader, every country, international organisations must engage now and help people remove those who are responsible for Iran unfortunately being what it has been."

Some senior aides in President Donald Trump's administration led by Vice President JD Vance are urging Trump to try diplomacy before strikes against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing U.S. officials.

The White House was weighing an offer from Iran to engage in talks regarding its nuclear program as Trump seemed to eye authorising military action against Iran, WSJ reported.

Non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told AFP Monday, as the Islamic Republic's authorities cracked down on protests in the country.

The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many had people had departed.

The embassy in Tehran usually counts around 30 expatriate employees, as well as a few dozen local staff members.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot on Monday summoned the Iranian ambassador in Brussels to urge Tehran to "listen to the peaceful demands" of protesting Iranians.

A rights group said on Monday more than 600 people had been killed in a crackdown on the protests, which began in Tehran on December 28 before spreading to other cities.

"The current situation in Iran is more than worrying. I had the Iranian ambassador to Belgium summoned today (Monday)," Prevot said in a statement.

He said he wanted to convey Belgium's concerns and urge the authorities in Tehran to "refrain from any disproportionate use of force and ensure that they listen to the peaceful demands of Iranians".

Last week, Belgium urged its nationals to leave Iran as soon as possible, citing the risk of arbitrary detentions.

US President Donald Trump is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters, the White House said Monday, adding that people were being "killed on the streets."

But a channel for diplomacy remains open, with Iran taking a "far different tone" in private discussions with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"One thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table. And air strikes would be one of the many, many options that are on the table for the commander in chief," Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing.

Leavitt added that "diplomacy is always the first option for the president."

"What you're hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages," Leavitt added.

Recent deadly clashes in Syria's Aleppo were an attempt by Kurdish fighters to sabotage Turkey's efforts to end a decades-long conflict with the Kurdish militant PKK, the ruling party said Monday.

"The YPG/SDF terrorist organisation's attacks and the operation in Aleppo.. is an attempt to sabotage the goal of a terror-free Turkey," said Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP, referring to the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday praised pro-government rallies called by authorities in response to two weeks of protests, saying the turnout was a "warning" to the United States.

"This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on treacherous mercenaries," he said, according to Iranian state TV, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.

"These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries," he said.

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper told her Iranian counterpart on Monday that his government must immediately end the violence against protesters in the country.

"The killing & brutal repression of peaceful protesters in Iran is horrific," Cooper said on social media platform X.

"I have spoken to (Iranian) Foreign Minister Araghchi and told him directly: the Iranian government must immediately end the violence, uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and ensure British nationals are safe."

The European Parliament has banned all Iranian diplomats and representatives from the assembly's premises over a deadly crackdown on protests in Iran, the body's president, Roberta Metsola, announced on Monday.

"It cannot be business as usual. As the brave people of Iran continue to stand up for their rights and their liberty, today I have taken the decision to ban all diplomatic staff and any other representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran from all European Parliament premises," Metsola said on X.

"This House will not aid in legitimising this regime that has sustained itself through torture, repression and murder," she added.

(AFP)

Russia on Monday condemned what it called attempts by "foreign powers" to interfere in Iran, after the United States threatened to intervene in the Islamic republic's deadly crackdown on protesters.

In a call with his Iranian counterpart, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu "strongly condemned yet another attempt by foreign powers to interfere in Iran's internal affairs", state media reported, in Moscow's first reaction to the widespread unrest.

(AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday condemned Iran's violent crackdown on its citizens following the country's biggest demonstrations since 2022.

"Respect for fundamental freedoms is a universal requirement, and we stand alongside those who defend them," Macron wrote on social media platform X.

Macron had already condemned the killing of protesters on Friday in a joint statement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. 

(Reuters)

Somalia announced Monday it had cancelled all agreements with the United Arab Emirates amid tensions over Israel's recognition of Somaliland and reports the Emiratis used Somali territory to help a Yemeni separatist flee his country.

The decision affects all security and defence arrangements - including the UAE's military base in Bosaso - as well as Emirati ownership of several of the country's ports.

There have been deepening differences between Somalia and the UAE over a number of issues.

The UAE is seen as quietly supporting the move by Israel last month to recognise Somaliland, the first to do so since the self-proclaimed republic declared independence from Somalia in 1991.

Tensions spiked again last week after Saudi Arabia accused the UAE of helping a Yemeni separatist leader, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, escape by boat and plane via Berbera and the Somali capital Mogadishu to Abu Dhabi.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Iranian security forces have killed at least 648 protesters and injured thousands of others since demonstrations began sweeping the country 16 days ago, according to estimates from Iran Human Rights.

More than ten thousand are estimated to have been arrested, the Norway-based rights group said.

A paramilitary drone strike killed 27 people and injured 73 others in the southeastern Sudanese city of Sinja on Monday, a health official told AFP.

Ibrahim al-Awad, the Sennar state health minister, said the attack was carried out by the Rapid Support Forces, who have been at war with Sudan's army since April 2023.

A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attack "targeted the 17th Infantry Division headquarters during a meeting attended by military, security and government officials" from several eastern and central states.

(AFP)

Iran on Monday summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK, accusing them of backing the protests that have shaken the Islamic republic, its foreign ministry said.

Iranian officials played a video that purported to show armed protesters firing on security forces and rioting, and told the diplomats that their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters", the ministry said in a statement.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that "European ambassadors" had been summoned by Iran.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Turkey said on Monday that any foreign intervention in neighbouring Iran would lead to greater crises in the country and the region, and called for US-Iran negotiations amid threats by Donald Trump to take military action in response to the ongoing protests.

NATO member Turkey does not wish to see chaos in Iran despite "certain problems within Iranian society and government", Omer Celik, spokesperson for Turkey's ruling AK Party, said.

"As Iranian President [Masoud] Pezeshkian has stated, these problems must be resolved through the internal dynamics of Iranian society and the national will of Iran," Celik told a press conference after a meeting of the ruling party.

"We believe that foreign intervention will lead to even worse consequences, and that intervention provoked by Israel in particular will lead to even greater crises."

Israeli officials have reportedly drawn up plans for a second war against Iran and discussed military options with the Trump administration.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Israeli forces have razed to the ground more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire began in October, according a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery.

Most of the destruction has occurred within the 53 percent of the enclave still occupied by the Israeli military, where it has erased entire blocks.

It has also demolished dozens of buildings the other side of the so-called 'Yellow Line', in territory controlled by Hamas.

The UN estimates that Israel damaged or destroyed more than 80 percent of Gaza's structures over the course of the two-year genocidal war.

"This is absolute destruction," one former Israeli military official told the newspaper. "It’s not selective destruction, it’s everything."

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched a drone strike Monday on an army base in the southeastern city of Sinja, a military source told AFP.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, said RSF drones "targeted the headquarters of the army's 17th Infantry Division in Sinja, the capital of Sennar state".

Since April 2023, the civil war between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands and left around 11 million people displaced internally and across borders.

Sennar state has seen relative calm since the army recaptured key Sudanese cities in late 2024 in an offensive that later saw it regain the capital Khartoum.

(AFP)

Thousands of Iranians filled a major square in central Tehran on Monday to support the Islamic republic and mourn security forces killed during protests, state television pictures showed.

People brandishing the Islamic republic's flag packed the capital's Enghelab (Revolution) Square as prayers were read for victims of the increasingly violent protests sweeping the country.

Similar rallies were also under way in other cities after a call by President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the images.

Rights groups based abroad say hundreds or even thousands of protesters have been killed during a crackdown by the authorities, while dozens of security force members have been killed.

(AFP and TNA staff)

The EU is "looking into" imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of protests convulsing the country, the bloc said Monday.

"We stand ready to propose new, more severe sanctions following the violent crackdown on protesters," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

(AFP)

Iran's parliament speaker on Monday described the response to a protest wave that has gripped the Islamic republic as a "war against terrorists", as he addressed a vast pro-government rally in Tehran.

Iran is fighting a "four-front war", Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, listing economic war, psychological war, "military war" with the United States and Israel and "today a war against terrorists".

"The great Iranian nation has never allowed the enemy to achieve its goals," he said, flanked by the slogans "Death to Israel, Death to America" in Persian, and vowing the Iranian military would teach US President Donald Trump "an unforgettable lesson" in case of a new attack.

Syrian authorities said Monday they have arrested two members of the Islamic State (IS) group, accusing them of being behind December's deadly bombing of a mosque in an Alawite area of the city of Homs.

In a statement, the interior ministry announced the arrest of "Ahmed Attallah al-Diab and Anas al-Zarrad, who belong to the Daesh terrorist organisation and are responsible for the bombing that targeted the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood," using the Arabic acronym for IS.

An Israeli drone strike killed three Palestinians in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday morning, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In a separate incident, a woman was wounded by Israeli gunfire, south of the city.

Israel has launched almost daily attacks in Gaza since the 10 October ceasefire came into effect, killing at least 442 people and wounding 1,240 others.

An Israeli-backed Palestinian militia said on Monday it had killed a senior Hamas police officer in the southern Gaza Strip, an incident which Hamas blamed on "Israeli collaborators".

A statement from the Hamas-run interior ministry said gunmen opened fire from a passing car, killing Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of the criminal police unit in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. It described the attackers as "collaborators with the occupation".

Hussam Al-Astal, leader of an anti-Hamas group based in an area under Israeli control east of Khan Younis, claimed responsibility for the killing in a video he posted on his Facebook page. The surname he shares with the dead man, Al-Astal, is common in that part of Gaza.

"To those who work with Hamas, your destiny is to be killed. Death is coming to you," he said, dressed in a black military-style uniform and clutching an assault rifle.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Iran's use of "disproportionate and brutal violence" against protesters was "a sign of weakness".

"We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms," Merz said during a visit to India. "This violence is not an expression of strength, but rather a sign of weakness.

In Berlin, a foreign ministry spokesman said Germany continues to push for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be "listed under the EU's anti-terror sanctions regime".

(AFP)

China said on Monday it opposes foreign "interference" in other countries after US President Donald Trump threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.

"We always oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference when asked about Trump's comments.

"We call on all parties to do more things conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East," she added.

(AFP)

Protests in Iran dwindled on Sunday compared to previous days, according to data gathered by the US-based Critical Threats project.

"The lower rate of protests is likely due to the regime’s nationwide internet shutdown and crackdown on the use of Starlink satellites," it said.

NEW | Protest Rate and Information Availability in Iran: CTP-ISW recorded a lower rate of protest activity across Iran on January 11 compared to recent days. The lower rate of protests that CTP-ISW recorded is likely due to the regime’s nationwide internet shutdown and crackdown… pic.twitter.com/3CoyifNECt

— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) January 12, 2026

Iran is fully prepared for conflict but also ready for negotiations, its foreign minister said on Monday, as US President Donald Trump said the Iranian leadership was seeking talks after he threatened to intervene militarily over a crackdown on protests.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran broadcast by state TV. "We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect."

(AFP)

Communication lines between Tehran and Washington remain open, such as through a US special envoy or traditional intermediaries such as Switzerland, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.

He was responding, via an English translation, to a question about contact with US President Donald Trump as Tehran faces protests.

Trump said on Sunday that Iran had called to negotiate its nuclear programme. Baghaei said that "contradictory messages" had been sent which caused ambiguity, and that Iran remained committed to diplomacy.

(Reuters)

The situation in Iran is "under total control" after violence linked to protests spiked over the weekend, the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday.

Araghchi claimed that threats issued by US President Donald Trump motivated "terrorists" to target protesters and security forces to trigger foreign intervention.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against Iran if it harms protesters. 

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Iran's shutdown of the internet has now lasted more than three-and-a-half days, digital censorship watchdog Netblocks said Monday, as activists voice fears that the blackout is masking a crackdown they say has killed hundreds of people.

"As Iran wakes up to a new day, metrics show the national internet blackout is past the 84 hour mark," the monitor said, saying that the blackout could be circumvented with shortwave radio, connecting to cell coverage at borders, Starlink and satellite phones.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Sunday that at least 544 people have been killed in the violence, including 483 protesters and 47 security forces personnel.

(AFP and TNA staff)

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran's leadership had called seeking "to negotiate" after his threats of military action amid mass anti-government protests in the Islamic republic.

"The leaders of Iran called" yesterday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that "a meeting is being set up... They want to negotiate."

Trump added that "we may have to act before a meeting."

The US president has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against Iran if its security forces harm protesters.

US-based activists said Sunday at least 483 protesters have been killed as demonstrations entered their third week.

(AFP and TNA staff)