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Iranian authorities TV connected Wednesday (January 21, 2026) issued the archetypal authoritative decease toll from caller protests, saying 3,117 radical were killed, portion the Foreign Minister issued the astir nonstop menace yet against the United States aft Tehran's bloody crackdown, informing the Islamic Republic volition beryllium “firing backmost with everything we person if we travel nether renewed attack.”
State tv carried statements by the Interior Ministry and the Martyrs Foundation, an authoritative assemblage providing services to families of those killed successful wars, stating the toll and saying 2,427 of the dormant successful the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and information forces. It did not elaborate connected the rest.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the decease toll was astatine slightest 4,560. The bureau has been close passim the years connected demonstrations and unrest successful Iran, relying connected a web of activists wrong the state that confirms each reported fatalities. The Associated Press has been incapable to independently measure the decease toll.
The comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who saw his invitation to the World Economic Forum successful Davos rescinded implicit the killings, came arsenic a U.S. craft bearer radical moved westbound toward the Middle East from Asia. U.S. combatant jets and different instrumentality appeared to beryllium moving successful the Mideast aft a large U.S. subject deployment successful the Caribbean saw troops prehend Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro.
Araghchi makes menace successful column
Mr. Araghchi made the menace successful an sentiment nonfiction published by The Wall Street Journal. The Foreign Minister contended “the convulsive signifier of the unrest lasted little than 72 hours” and sought again to blasted equipped demonstrators for the violence. Videos that made it retired of Iran contempt an net shutdown look to amusement information forces repeatedly utilizing unrecorded occurrence to people seemingly unarmed protesters, thing unaddressed by Mr. Araghchi.
“Unlike the restraint Iran showed successful June 2025, our almighty equipped forces person nary qualms astir firing backmost with everything we person if we travel nether renewed attack,” Mr. Araghchi wrote, referring to the 12-day warfare launched by Israel connected Iran successful June. “This isn't a threat, but a world I consciousness I request to convey explicitly, due to the fact that arsenic a diplomat and a veteran, I abhor war.”
He added: “An all-out confrontation volition surely beryllium ferocious and resistance connected far, acold longer than the phantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House. It volition surely engulf the wider portion and person an interaction connected mean radical astir the globe.”
Mr. Araghchi's comments apt notation to Iran's short- and medium-range missiles. The Islamic Republic relied connected ballistic missiles to people Israel successful the warfare and near its stockpile of the shorter-range missiles unused, thing that could beryllium fired to people U.S. bases and interests successful the Persian Gulf. Already, determination person been immoderate restrictions connected U.S. diplomats travelling to bases successful Kuwait and Qatar.
Mideast nations, peculiarly diplomats from Gulf Arab countries, had lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump not to onslaught Iran aft helium threatened to enactment successful effect to the sidesplitting of demonstrators. Last week, Iran unopen its airspace, apt successful anticipation of a strike.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been successful the South China Sea successful caller days, had passed done the Strait of Malacca, a cardinal waterway connecting the oversea and Indian Ocean, by Tuesday (January 20, 2026), ship-tracking information showed.
A U.S. Navy official, speaking connected information of anonymity, said the craft bearer and 3 accompanying destroyers were heading west.
While naval and different defence officials stopped abbreviated of saying the bearer onslaught radical was headed to the Middle East, its existent heading and determination successful the Indian Ocean means it is lone days distant from moving into the region. Meanwhile, U.S. subject images released successful caller days showed F-15E Strike Eagles arriving successful the Mideast and forces successful the portion moving a HIMARS rocket system, the benignant utilized with large occurrence by Ukraine aft Russia's full-scale penetration successful the state successful 2022.
Protest decease toll rises
The decease toll exceeds that of immoderate different circular of protestation oregon unrest successful Iran successful decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 gyration that brought the Islamic Republic into being. Although determination person been nary protests for days, determination are fears the toll could summation importantly arsenic accusation gradually emerges from a state inactive nether a government-imposed shutdown of the net since January 8.
The archetypal denotation from authorities of the grade of casualties came Saturday from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said the protests had near “several thousand” radical dormant and blamed the United States. The protests began implicit economical pressures but rapidly broadened to instrumentality connected the theocracy.
The Interior Ministry connection connected Wednesday (January 21) asserted that “terrorists utilized unrecorded ammunition that led to the deaths of 2,427 radical and information forces.”
The Martyrs Foundation said Iran would prosecute what it called “terrorists” who it claimed were tied to Israel and “supported, equipped and armed” by the U.S.
Nearly 26,500 radical person been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Comments from officials person led to fears of immoderate of those detained being enactment to decease successful Iran, 1 of the world's apical executioners.
That and the sidesplitting of peaceful protesters person been 2 reddish lines laid down by Mr. Trump successful the tensions.
Kurdish exiles assertion Iranian onslaught successful Iraq
The National Army of Kurdistan, the equipped helping of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, oregon PAK, claimed Iran launched an onslaught against 1 of its bases adjacent Irbil, immoderate 320 kilometres (200 miles) northbound of Baghdad. It said 1 combatant had been killed, and released mobile telephone footage of a occurrence successful the predawn darkness.
Iran did not instantly admit the attack, which would beryllium the archetypal overseas cognition Tehran has launched since the protests started.
A fistful of Iranian Kurdish dissident oregon separatist groups — immoderate with equipped wings — person agelong recovered a harmless haven successful bluish Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, wherever their beingness has been a constituent of friction betwixt the cardinal authorities successful Baghdad and Tehran. The PAK has claimed it launched attacks successful Iran arsenic a crackdown connected the demonstrations took place, thing reported by semiofficial Iranian quality agencies arsenic well.
