Trump Threatens 'Serious Action' If Iran Executes Prisoners
US President Donald Trump says the United States will "take very serious action" if Iran begins executing protesters.
Trump made the statement on the sidelines of a trip to Detroit in a brief interview on January 13 with CBS, without giving details.
In response to a CBS reporter who asked about the US response to reports that some detainees in Iran could be hanged early Wednesday morning, Trump emphasized that he had not heard anything about hanging protesters yet, but added that "if they do such a thing, we will take very strong action."
When asked what his endgame is in Iran, the president said: "The endgame is to win. I like winning." He cited the fate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Nicolas Maduro and strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
"We don't want to see what's happening in Iran happen," he said. "And you know, if they want to have protests, that's one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you're telling me about hanging -- we'll see how that works out for them. It's not going to work out good."
More Than 2,400 Protesters Killed, Says HRANA Rights Group
More than 2,400 protesters have been killed during Iran's brutal crackdown against the regime, according to the US human rights monitor HRANA.
The rights group reported late on January 13 that the total death toll had reached 2,571 in the wave of unrest that represents the biggest challenge to the Islamic republic in years. HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 children, and nine bystanders. It also confirmed the detention of 18,434 individuals, 97 cases of forced confessions that have been broadcast, and 1,134 reports of severe injuries.
The protests have been met with a violent crackdown by security forces and a widespread Internet blackout, raising fears that the actual death toll may be even higher.
In the first time the Iranian government has acknowledged the climbing death toll, an official said on January 13 that about 2,000 people had been killed.
Starlink Internet Service Provided Free For Iran
Following a conversation between US President Donald Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk, the Starlink satellite Internet service has been made free of charge for those in Iran.
In recent days, following the complete Internet blackout in Iran by the authorities in response to mass protests, Starlink has been one of the few ways for Iranians to communicate with the outside world.
Despite the presence of tens of thousands of Starlink terminals and dishes across Iran, users have faced difficulties in methods for paying the subscription fee. There have also been reports of serious disruptions in Starlink signals.
Live Blog Closing For The Day
We are closing the live blog for now, but we'll be back again tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time.
Goldberg: 'Nothing Is Off The Table' For Trump's Response In Iran
During Trump’s presidency, between 2019 and 2020, when the United States pressure campaign against the Islamic republic was at its peak, Richard Goldberg was director of the White House’s National Security Council’s Office of Countering Iran’s Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Hannah Kaviani of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda spoke with Richard Goldberg, now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, on January 13 about what Trump’s next move might be against Iran.
Click here to read the interview.
Axios: Witkoff 'Secretly' Met Iran's Prince Reza Pahlavi
Axios reporter Barack Ravid said on January 13 that Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy, "secretly" met with Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince of Iran who has become an opposition figure.
He quoted an unnamed "senior American official" as saying the focus of the meeting and talks was the widespread protests in Iran.
US officials have not yet officially confirmed the news.
Axios says this is the first high-level meeting between the Iranian opposition and the Trump administration since the protests began in Iran on December 28.
According to the site, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a "transitional" leader if the regime falls.
Witkoff previously served as Trump's representative in nuclear negotiations with representatives of the Islamic republic.
Meanwhile, Canada is now advising any of its citizens in Iran to leave the country.
The NetBlocks digital rights watchdog now says that Iran's Internet blackout has passed the 120-hour mark.
'Thousands Of Bodies': Death Toll Soars Amid Iran's Brutal Crackdown
At least 2,000 people have been killed in the protests in Iran, according to a US-based human rights group, HRANA, amid the deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. One Iranian exile in Germany told RFE/RL she heard from a trusted source able to get past Iran's communication blackout that her uncle had been killed and that the number of deaths could be much higher.
Will The EU Add The IRGC To Its Terror List Now?
For years the European Union has failed to achieve unanimity from its 27 member states to put Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on its terrorist list. Tehran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters over the past two weeks, however, may have finally changed that.
The bloc is now weighing more asset freezes and visa bans against individuals responsible for the crackdown on Iranian protesters, and the measures could potentially be ready by the time the bloc's foreign ministers meet in Brussels on January 29.
No sectoral sanctions are expected, but there has been talk that the decision to add the IRGC to the terrorist list -- meaning certain IRGC officials could be arrested if they set foot in an EU member state -- would be largely symbolic.
To read the rest of the analysis by RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, click here.