Days after a protester was filmed pulling down the national flag from the Iranian Embassy in London, the same thing happened in Madrid yesterday.
Like the incident in the UK capital on January 10, the Madrid footage appears to show a man climbing the balcony of the embassy in the Spanish capital on January 13 and replacing the flag with the pre-Islamic revolution flag, featuring a lion and sun, which is frequently used by Iranian opposition groups.
China’s Ties With Iran Show Their Limits Amid Protests And US Threats
As Iran’s clerical rulers battle to survive one of the biggest threats to their grip on power in years and the United States threatens potential military action against the country, China has few options -- and growing hesitancy -- to help its partner in Tehran.
Beijing’s inaction reflects the pragmatic nature of their alignment, which is based more on convenience rather than goodwill or trust, experts say.
Those limits have been on display as the Iranian authorities wage an unprecedented and bloody crackdown on mass antiestablishment protests, leading US President Donald Trump to impose new tariffs and threaten military strikes against the Middle Eastern country.
Read more here.
On The Ground In Iran: Security Forces Flood Karaj As Families Hide Their Dead
Radio Farda spoke to a source who lives in Tehran and recently visited the nearby city of Karaj.
After four days of protests and a violent crackdown, the city, which lies around 40 kilometers west of the capital Tehran, is now swarming with the security forces' motorbikes and vans. Men armed with machetes, clubs, and guns patrol in front of government buildings and in the city squares.
People on the streets speak in hushed tones, as if walking through darkness or afraid to disturb the quiet.
Read more.
UK PM Slams 'Sickening Repression' In Iran
UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer says he condemns "in the strongest possible terms the sickening repression and murder of protesters in Iran. "
"The contrast between the courage of the Iranian people and the brutality of their desperate regime has never been clearer," he said in the UK Parliament on January 14.
He added that the British government was "working with allies on further sanctions and doing all we can to protect UK nationals."
Iran Remains In Digital Darkness, Internet Monitor Says
The NetBlocks cyber watchdog says the Iranian authorities continue to block access to the Internet as part of their crackdown amid massive anti-government protests. "Metrics show Iran remains offline as the country wakes to another day of digital darkness," it said in a post on January 14.
The uprising in Iran was sparked in late December by spiraling inflation and a free fall of the currency but has since turned into a broader anti-government protest. Rights groups say officials have waged a brutal crackdown on the demonstrations with many fatalities.
The independent US-based rights monitor HRANA said that according to its confirmed and verified data on January 13, the death toll in the protests had risen to 2,403 people, with more than 18,000 others detained. "With the Internet blackout now past its 132nd hour, early reports indicate thousands of casualties. The true extent of the killings is masked by the absence of connectivity," NetBlocks said.
Reuters: Some US Military Base Staff In Qatar Advised To Leave
Citing three diplomats, Reuters is reporting that certain staff at the US military base in Qatar have been advised to leave.
The agency did not identify the diplomats, but quoted them as saying: "Some staff have been advised to leave Al-Udeid Air Base, a US military base in Qatar, on Wednesday evening."
The US Embassy in Doha did not comment on the matter, according to Reuters.
Al-Udeid is the largest US base in the Middle East and houses approximately 10,000 troops. Previously, some troops had left US bases in the Middle East before the United States carried out air strikes on Iran during the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June.
Officials in the Islamic republic had threatened to consider US bases and interests in the region as legitimate targets for attack if US President Donald Trump takes military action in support of the protesters.
Iran's Top Sunni Cleric Condemns Killings Of Protesters
Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran's top Sunni cleric and Friday Prayer leader in Zahedan, issued a statement describing the recent killing of thousands of protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities as a horrific and unprecedented catastrophe and saying those responsible await "divine punishment."
In a message published on January 13, Abdolhamid wrote: "This bitter event has plunged the Iranian nation into grief and anger, profoundly wounding the collective conscience of free-spirited people worldwide."
He also emphasized at the end of his message that "those who ordered and carried out this crime will undoubtedly be held accountable in this world and will also deserve divine punishment in the hereafter."
The US-based human rights monitor HRANA reported that as of January 13 -- the 17th day of the protests -- 2,403 protesters, including 12 children, had been confirmed killed.
Rights groups and observers warn that due to the nationwide Internet blackout, the death toll may be even higher.
US State Department Renews Call For Release Of Political Prisoners
The US State Department's Persian account on X called for the release of political prisoners in Iran. Addressing the Iranian government, it wrote: "While we expose your violence against protesters, do not think that we have forgotten the political prisoners who were imprisoned even before these protests."
The message, which was published on January 14, mentions the political prisoners Narges Mohammadi, Sepideh Gholian, Javad Alikordi, Pouran Nazemi, Reza Khandan, Majid Tavakoli, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Hossein Ronaghi, "and many others" and emphasizes that "their continued detention remains a serious concern."
A number of the political prisoners in question were arrested on December 12, when a ceremony marking the seventh day after the death of Khosrow Alikurdi, a lawyer and human rights activist, in Mashhad turned into a clash with government forces.
Mohammadi, a prominent Iran human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, later said through her foundation that she had endured significant physical abuse during her arrest and detention. Mohammadi said she "was attacked with severe and continuous blows to the head and neck with a baton and then violently arrested."
Iran's Justice Chief Reiterates Speedy Trials For Detained Protesters
The head of the Islamic judiciary once has again emphasized that the trials of those detained in the recent protests will be expedited.
Iranian media also quoted Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying the trials will be held in public. According to these reports, Mohseni-Ejei visited a Tehran prison for five hours and personally processed a number of cases.
The head of the judiciary did not provide an explanation about the legal process of these cases.
Human rights groups say tens of thousands of people have been arrested in recent days and have expressed concern that the judiciary may be carrying out mass executions.
This comes as US President Donald Trump warned Iran's authorities in a message on January 13 that they would face "very strong action" from the United States if they executed detained protesters.
US State Department Slams Iran's Description Of Protesters As 'Terrorists'
The US State Department's Persian-language account on X responded to the Iranian government's attempt to portray protesters as "terrorists."
The account wrote in a post: "The fact that the Islamic Republic regime calls protesters 'rioters' and 'terrorists' is not deceiving the world."
The post states that "these are labels used to justify violence, nothing more."
As the protests escalate, Iranian officials have increased their confrontations with protesters, calling them "terrorists."
In recent days, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has also attempted to justify the unprecedented violence against protesters by inviting ambassadors and representatives of foreign countries to Iran, using a speech by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and a film screening.
However, shortly after this move, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz described Iran's resort to violence to remain in power as a sign of the end of the Islamic republic's "work."