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As Iran returned to uneasy calm aft a question of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a elder hard-line cleric called connected Friday (January 16, 2026) for the decease punishment for detained demonstrators and straight threatened U.S. President Donald Trump — grounds of the rage gripping authorities successful the Islamic Republic.
Mr. Trump, though, struck a conciliatory note, thanking Iran's leaders for not executing hundreds of detained protesters, successful a further motion helium whitethorn beryllium backing distant from a subject strike. Executions, arsenic good arsenic the sidesplitting of peaceful protesters, are 2 of the reddish lines laid down by Mr. Trump for imaginable enactment against Iran.
Harsh repression that has near respective 1000 radical dormant appears to person succeeded successful stifling demonstrations that began December 28 implicit Iran's ailing system and morphed into protests straight challenging the country's theocracy.
There person been nary signs of protests for days successful Tehran, wherever buying and thoroughfare beingness person returned to outward normality, though a week-old net blackout continued. Authorities person not reported immoderate unrest elsewhere successful the country.
“Iran cancelled the hanging of implicit 800 people,” Mr. Trump told reporters successful Washington, adding that "I greatly respect the information that they cancelled.” Mr. Trump did not clarify who helium spoke to successful Iran to corroborate the authorities of immoderate planned executions.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency connected Friday enactment the decease toll astatine 3,090. The number, which exceeds that of immoderate different circular of protestation oregon unrest successful Iran successful decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise.
The bureau has been close passim the years of demonstrations, relying connected a web of activists wrong Iran that confirms each reported fatalities.
The AP has been incapable to independently corroborate the toll. Iran's authorities has not provided casualty figures.
Hard-line cleric's fiery sermon
In contrast, the sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami carried by Iranian authorities vigor sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should beryllium enactment to death!”
Khatami, a subordinate of Iran's Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council agelong known for his hard-line views, described the protesters arsenic the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump's soldiers.” He said Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump should await "hard revenge from the system.”
“Americans and Zionists should not expect peace," the cleric said.
His fiery code came arsenic allies of Iran and the United States alike sought to defuse tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Friday to some Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Israel's Netanyahu, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia had antecedently kept mostly quiescent astir the protests. Moscow has watched respective cardinal allies endure blows arsenic its resources and absorption are consumed by its 4-year-old warfare against Ukraine, including the downfall of Syria's erstwhile President Bashar Assad successful 2024, past year's US and Israeli attacks connected Iran and the US seizure of Venezuelan person Nicolas Maduro this month.
Exiled Iranian royal calls for combat to proceed
Days aft Mr. Trump pledged “help is connected its way” for the protesters, some the demonstrations and the imaginable of imminent U.S. retaliation appeared to person receded. One diplomat told The Associated Press that apical officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had raised concerns with Mr. Trump that a U.S. subject involution would shingle the planetary system and destabilise an already volatile region.
Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the U.S. to marque bully connected its pledge to intervene. Pahlavi, whose begetter was overthrown by Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, said helium inactive believes the president's committedness of assistance.
“I judge the president is simply a antheral of his word," Pahlavi told reporters successful Washington. He added that "regardless of whether enactment is taken oregon not, we arsenic Iranians person nary prime to transportation connected the fight.“
“I volition instrumentality to Iran,” helium vowed. Hours later, helium urged protesters to instrumentality to the streets again from Saturday to Monday.
Despite enactment by diehard monarchists successful the diaspora, Pahlavi has struggled to summation wider entreaty wrong Iran. But that has not stopped him from presenting himself arsenic the transitional person of Iran if the authorities were to fall.
Iran authorities database protestation harm
Khatami, the hard-line cleric, besides provided the archetypal wide statistic connected harm from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126 supplication halls and 20 different beatified places had sustained damage. Another 80 homes of Friday supplication leaders — an important presumption wrong Iran's theocracy — were besides damaged, apt underlining the choler demonstrators felt toward symbols of the government.
He said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 occurrence section vehicles, and different 50 exigency vehicles besides sustained damage.
Even arsenic protests appeared to person been smothered wrong Iran, thousands of exiled Iranians and their supporters person taken to the streets successful cities crossed Europe to outcry retired their rage astatine the authorities of the Islamic Republic.
Amid the continuing net shutdown, immoderate Iranians crossed borders to pass with the extracurricular world. At a borderline crossing successful Turkey's eastbound state of Van, a trickle of Iranians crossing connected Friday said they were traveling to get astir the communications blackout.
“I volition spell backmost to Iran aft they unfastened the internet,” said a traveler who gave lone his archetypal name, Mehdi, retired of information concerns.
Also crossing the borderline were immoderate Turkish citizens escaping the unrest successful Iran.
Mehmet Önder, 47, was successful Tehran for his textiles concern erstwhile the protests erupted. He said helium laid debased successful his edifice until it was unopen for information reasons, past stayed with 1 of his customers until helium was capable to instrumentality to Turkey.
Although helium did not task into the streets, Önder said helium heard dense gunfire.
“I recognize guns, due to the fact that I served successful the subject successful the southeast of Turkey,” helium said. “The guns they were firing were not elemental weapons. They were machine-guns.”
In a motion of the conflict's imaginable to spill implicit borders, a Kurdish separatist radical successful Iraq said it has launched attacks connected Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard successful caller days successful retaliation for Tehran's crackdown connected protests.
A typical of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, oregon PAK, said its members person “played a relation successful the protests done some fiscal enactment and equipped operations to support protesters erstwhile needed.” The radical said the attacks were launched by members of its subject helping based wrong Iran.
