US Lawmakers Warn Iranian Government Over Protest Crackdown
A majority of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has warned the Iranian government about its violent treatment of protesters.
In a post on X on January 7, the group of US lawmakers stated that the Iranian people have courageously risen up against a "repressive regime."
In this note, the GOP majority of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee wrote to the leaders of the Islamic republic: "If Tehran violently kills peaceful protestors, it will be swiftly met with justice."
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also repeated US President Donald Trump's recent warning to Tehran.
Graham, while publishing part of his recent interview with Fox News, emphasized that Trump "is not Barack Obama and is not turning his back on the people of Iran who are demanding that their oppression end."
He also issued a stark warning, saying to "the Ayatollah and his thugs: If you keep killing your people, in defiance of President Trump, you're going to wake up dead."
Graham went on to add that the Iranian government is "on the verge of falling."
He was referring to Trump's explicit warning to Iran about using violence against protesters. On January 4, Trump told reporters about Iranian officials: "If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard by the United States."
On January 3, he issued a similar warning to the Iranian government in a post on Truth Social.
Journalists In Iran Summoned Over Protest Coverage
As the protests spread in Iran, reports have emerged of some protesters, civil society activists, and journalists being summoned by anonymous phone calls and text messages with the aim of warning them against taking a stance on the protests and limiting their coverage.
Marzieh Mohebbi, a lawyer living outside Iran, wrote on X, "These messages are sent to all those whose mobile phones were found within the area of the demonstrations, and they have no legal value or validity, and do not constitute a source of legal effect."
Addressing those who received the messages, she wrote: "The Islamic Republic's judiciary lacks legitimacy, is corrupt, and is untrustworthy. No one knows what will happen to you after you appear, so do not even pay attention to the official summons."
There have also been reports that journalists were required to sign written pledges barring them from expressing views or posting about the protests on social media.
Some of these journalists have even been threatened with arrest if they ignore the security forces' demands.
In recent days, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the Iranian security agencies' actions in "summoning and threatening journalists" amid the ongoing nationwide protests.
According to the committee's post, following recent statements by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about the crackdown on protests, "reporters were contacted and ordered to appear before security bodies, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
"Authorities must immediately halt their intimidation which seeks to silence independent reporting at a critical moment," CPJ added.
MEP: 'We Must Shine A Light On What Is Happening'
Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, once again voiced support for Iranian protesters on January 8.
"Today, people all over Iran are back on the streets. They know that they may face bullets. But for many, silence is now more dangerous than courage," she wrote in a post on X.
"We have a duty here to shine a light on what is happening in Iran. This regime has lost every last inch of legitimacy," Neumann added.
The German representative, who also heads the European Parliament's Iran relations delegation, had previously said Europe has a responsibility to stand firmly with the Iranian "people who [are] asking for rights that should never require courage & to insist on accountability when those rights are denied" and support the latest round of protests, which began on December 28.
Widespread Strike Of Traders Reported In Kurdish Parts Of Country
Images and videos released from Kurdish cities in Iran on January 8 showed markets and shops shuttered and closed.
Traders have reportedly gone on strike in Ilam, Kermanshah, Sarpol-e Zahab, Rawansar, Paveh, Kamyaran, Sanandaj, Qorveh, Bijar, Marivan, Baneh, Saghez, Divandarreh, Urmia, Mahabad, Bokan, Oshnavieh, and Sardasht.
The strike was called by political parties and civil society organizations in Iranian Kurdistan.
Seven Iranian Kurdistan parties issued a joint call for a general strike in Kurdish-dominated areas of the country on January 8 in support of nationwide protests and condemnation of the regime's "crimes in Kermanshah, Ilam, and Lorestan."
The statement called the new wave of nationwide protests in Iran a clear, loud, and public "no" to the Islamic republic and a response to "all the disasters" that the regime has imposed on Iran during its rule.
Internet Disruptions Reported Across Iran
According to reports from Iran, as popular protests continued into their 11th night on January 7, users in various cities reported slow and unstable Internet connections.
It has been reported that in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Tabriz, both fixed-line and mobile Internet access have been experiencing severe disruption or brief outages.
The technology news website CITNA reported that in various cities across Iran the quality of Internet access has noticeably declined, and that in Tehran and Karaj the use of messaging apps and Internet-based calls has been disrupted.
As of 11 p.m. Iran time on January 7, there were no reports of a nationwide Internet shutdown.
Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at the US-based group Mian, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the Iranian government is preparing to cut off Internet access. He added that according to sources in Iran's technology sector, the so-called national Internet -- a state-operated internal network providing a limited form of Internet access that enables greater government oversight and the option to sever connections to the global web in times of unrest -- will be enforced.
The Iranian government cut citizens’ access to the global Internet in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Internet quality did not return to normal for weeks after the cease-fire.
During the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022, users’ access to the Internet was also disrupted for months, and in 2019 the government completely blocked the Internet in Iran for about two weeks amid a widespread and violent crackdown by security forces.
US State Department: 'The Struggle of the Iranian People Matters'
The US State Department's Persian account on the X network, referring to the continuation of protests in Iran, wrote that the world should not "turn a blind eye" to these protests.
In one of several posts from the US State Department, it was stated that "the people of Iran are not alone and their struggle matters to all of us."
The department also reacted in another post to the news of the Iranian government transferring 1 million tomans ($7) to every Iranian per month.
The post states: "It is insulting that the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran think that a monthly payment of $7 can quell public anger, while they have sent more than $1 billion to Hezbollah in just ten months."
Medical Council Chief Calls On Police To 'Apologize' To Ilam Hospital Staff
The head of Iran's Medical Council, in a letter to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic republic's law enforcement forces, has called for an official apology after medical staff at a hospital in Ilam were attacked by police forces over the weekend.
In his letter, Mohammad Raiszadeh called for "special protective and supervisory measures" to be put in place "to prevent the entry, presence, and pursuit of unrelated individuals inside medical centers."
He added that he expected "appropriate steps to recognize and apologize to medical staff" at various centers -- "especially in Ilam Province, where those affected by the incident suffered harm and distress" — should be taken, along with compensatory and corrective measures.
The Hammihan newspaper published a report on January 7 confirming that protesters were killed and wounded during the Ilam protests on January 3 and transferred to the hospital. Fereydoun Hemmati, the representative of Ilam, also confirmed the entry of law enforcement forces into the hospital and the occurrence of clashes.
Earlier, RFE/RL's Radio Farda published the account of an eyewitness stating that the public and hospital staff, despite attacks by security forces -- including the use tear gas -- refused to allow the agents to take away bodies or arrest the wounded.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time with more coverage of events in Iran. Until then, good night and take care.
Video: Iran Protests Continue Amid Mounting Death Toll
RFE/RL's Radio Farda has currently verified the deaths of 20 demonstrators who have died during Iran's ongoing protests. Despite the violent crackdown, crowds gathered late on January 6 in Abdanan, in Iran's western Ilam Province, and in several other cities as protests continue for an 11th day.
Video Footage Shows Protesters Massing In Bojnourd, North Khorasan
Videos sent to RFE/RL's Radio Farda show large-scale protests being held in the city of Bojnourd, the capital of Iran's North Khorasan Province.
Two different videos of the January 7 protests in Bojnourd show large numbers of protesters chanting anti-government slogans.