Iran has confronted intense nationwide protests for greater than two weeks, marking the biggest problem to the nation’s ruling regime in years — and drawing vows from President Trump to intervene on the protesters’ behalf in the event that they face a violent crackdown.
Initially sparked by Iran’s financial freefall and extreme inflation, the protests have boiled over, with demonstrations in at the very least 185 cities across the nation. An web blackout impeded communications and made it troublesome to know the scope of the protests — or the crackdown that gave the impression to be escalating.
Estimates of the demise toll jumped sharply on Jan. 13. Britain’s International Secretary Yvette Cooper stated in Parliament that the U.Ok. authorities believed there “could have been 2,000 individuals killed, there have been extra. My concern is that the quantity could show to be considerably greater.”
Two sources, together with one inside Iran, instructed CBS Information that at the very least 12,000, and probably as many as 20,000 individuals have been killed. Activist teams have been working to compile a full demise toll based mostly on studies from medical officers throughout the nation. CBS Information has not been capable of independently confirm the large demise toll indicated by the supply inside Iran.
This is what it is advisable to know:
How the Iran protests began, and what they’ve develop into
The present wave of protests started within the capital, Tehran, in late December as shopkeepers went on strike and marched into the streets. Small enterprise homeowners in Iran have lengthy been seen as supportive of the regime, however anger over spiraling inflation and the devaluation of the nation’s forex, which misplaced greater than 40% of its worth final 12 months, making on a regular basis items unimaginable for many individuals to afford, sparked the demonstrations.
The protests shortly unfold, with individuals becoming a member of marches throughout the nation to denounce not solely the financial woes, however to air wider discontent with the nation’s hardline regime.
Iranians collect whereas blocking a avenue throughout a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026.
MAHSA / Center East Pictures /AFP through Getty Pictures
Protests have been reported in at the very least 185 cities in all 31 of the nation’s provinces, in line with the Human Rights Activists Information Company, or HRANA, a U.S.-based monitoring group based by anti-regime activists.
Demonstrations have additionally been reported on dozens of college campuses since late December, and strikes and store closures have been reported in markets in over a dozen cities, HRANA stated.
Iranian protesters block a avenue in Kermanshah, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2026, as nationwide protests proceed.
Kamran/Center East Pictures/AFP through Getty
Movies posted on social media night time after night time confirmed crowds of protesters marching by means of the streets of assorted Iranian cities, chanting anti-government slogans and clashing with the nation’s safety forces in some circumstances.
How Iranian authorities have responded
1000’s of individuals have been reported detained because the wave of protests started, in line with HRANA, and the demise toll rose as protests entered their third week.
CBS Information has verified that video posted on-line exhibits the our bodies of at the very least 366 and sure greater than 400 individuals killed amid the protest piled up at a morgue in a Tehran suburb. The video seems to indicate forensic personnel documenting ugly accidents on the our bodies, and crowds of individuals seemingly attempting to establish the lifeless.
The accidents seen are intensive and embrace gunshot wounds, “birdshot” shotgun wounds, gashes and different extreme accidents.
Our bodies lie in physique baggage on the bottom exterior Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in Tehran, Iran, in these pictures from video obtained from social media, Jan. 11, 2026.
Social Media/through REUTERS
Iran’s legal professional basic on Jan. 10 warned that anybody participating within the protests can be thought-about an “enemy of God,” in line with The Related Press — a death-penalty cost.
The Islamic Republic’s semiofficial Fars information company had claimed on Jan. 5 that about 250 law enforcement officials and 45 members of the scary Basij safety pressure had been injured amid the unrest.
Iranian authorities minimize off telephone service and internet entry starting Jan. 8 throughout the nation, in line with the web monitoring group NetBlocks, which stated a “nationwide web blackout” continued into Jan. 11, writing on social media that “nationwide connectivity ranges proceed to flatline round 1% of extraordinary ranges.”
“Even Starlink, which has been the primary line of communication for some activists in numerous components of the nation, has been jammed,” Maziar Bahari, editor of the unbiased IranWire information website, instructed CBS Information on Friday, referring to the satellite tv for pc communication system run by Elon Musk.
CBS Information has sought remark from SpaceX, which runs Starlink, however didn’t get any speedy response.
Trump warns he’ll hit Iran “very arduous” if it kills protesters
Mr. Trump has threatened on a number of events because the protests started that he may order U.S. motion of some variety if Iranian authorities kill demonstrators.
He instructed “CBS Night Information” anchor Tony Dokoupil in an interview Jan. 13 that the U.S. will “take very sturdy motion” if Iranian authorities start hanging anti-government protesters. He stated “there’s a variety of assistance on the best way” for Iranian residents, saying it is being provided in “totally different varieties,” together with financial help.
Just a few days earlier, the president wrote on Reality Social: “Iran is taking a look at FREEDOM, maybe like by no means earlier than. The USA stands prepared to assist!!!”
Talking on the White Home on Jan. 9, Mr. Trump reiterated that he was open to some type of U.S. motion, though he stated that may not contain a U.S. incursion.
“I’ve made the assertion very strongly that if they begin killing individuals like they’ve previously, we’ll get entangled,” Mr. Trump stated. “We’ll be hitting them very arduous the place it hurts. And that does not imply boots on the bottom, but it surely means hitting them very, very arduous the place it hurts. So, we do not need that to occur.”
In a Jan. 2 submit on Reality Social, he stated: “If Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceable protesters, which is their customized, the USA of America will come to their rescue. We’re locked and loaded and able to go.”
Talking on Fox Information on Jan. 8, Mr. Trump stated the U.S. was “prepared” to hit Iran arduous if protesters have been killed, however added, “for essentially the most half, they have not” been.
A senior U.S. official confirmed to CBS Information that Mr. Trump has been briefed on new choices for a possible response, which may embrace navy or cyber actions.
The president’s feedback got here simply over six months after he ordered airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear services, amid a lethal days-long battle between Iran and Israel.
The unrest in Iran additionally comes as Mr. Trump takes a extra aggressive posture on the world stage. U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an in a single day navy operation in Caracas on Jan. 3, and Mr. Trump has prompt he is open to navy motion in Colombia to fight drug trafficking, and even to take management of Greenland.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow on the Center East Institute who research Iran, instructed CBS Information final week that Mr. Trump’s gestures of assist may embolden Iranian protesters, saying his feedback often is the “one ingredient it is advisable to preserve … the street-level motion alive.”
Bahari, of IranWire, stated Iranian officers had instructed him they have been involved about Mr. Trump doubtlessly intervening in Iran even earlier than the protests started.
The current U.S. assault on Venezuela, “has actually scared many Iranian officers and should have affected their actions when it comes to learn how to confront the protesters. However on the similar time, it has impressed many protesters to come back out, as a result of they know that the chief of the world’s essential superpower is supporting their trigger.”
Iranian leaders acknowledge issues, however blame U.S.
In an tackle on state tv aired Friday, after an intense night time of protests, Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that his regime would “not again down,” referred to as for unity and accused “a bunch of vandals” in Tehran of inflicting chaos within the capital “to please the U.S. president.”
In some circumstances, Iranian officers have tried to strike a conciliatory tone, acknowledging individuals’s financial considerations and insisting that folks have the suitable to protest peacefully. State media reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian had directed safety forces to not crack down on peaceable protesters.
The federal government has additionally provided some aid within the type of $7-a-month stipends that can be utilized in grocery shops to purchase fundamental requirements.
Iran’s Ministry of International Affairs has condemned Mr. Trump threats of a U.S. intervention, accusing the U.S. of “inciting violence and terrorism.”
Iranian military commander Main Common Amir Hatami threatened Wednesday to “minimize off the hand of any aggressor.”
Iran’s historical past of mass protests
Protests — and extreme crackdowns — are a recurring theme in Iran.
The final main spherical of protests got here in 2022, spurred by the demise in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the theocratic authorities’s forces for allegedly carrying her scarf incorrectly. Lots of of individuals have been killed throughout months of demonstrations.
Different protest actions got here in 2019 and 2017, and Iran was beset by a large-scale rebellion in 2009 over the nation’s contested presidential election.
“From what we noticed on social media channels and in addition from conversations with totally different individuals in Iran, the variety of protesters in numerous components of the nation isn’t as excessive as in 2022, however there are extra protests — the protests are extra widespread in numerous components of the nation,” Bahari instructed CBS Information. “So, even some smaller cities the place they by no means had a protest in these cities, they see protests nowadays, and I believe individuals are extra determined than earlier than.”
The present protests appear totally different in comparison with the earlier rounds — and might be more durable for the regime to quell by providing concessions — resulting from their roots within the nation’s financial woes, in line with Mona Yacoubian, Director and Senior Adviser of the Center East Program on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research.
She famous that in 2022, the regime was capable of appease protesters by “merely addressing their complaints about girls’s veiling and so forth.”
However the protesters now are extra centered on financial issues, and “there’s actually nothing [the regime] can do” to get Iran’s moribund financial system again on observe, she stated.
“These protests, they’re about financial scenario, but additionally about dignity,” Bahari instructed CBS Information. “It is concerning the nationwide satisfaction. And due to that, this protest will probably be very, very troublesome to include.”
Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi cheers on the protests
Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — whose father, the previous shah, fled simply earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution that introduced the present clerical regime to energy — has cheered the protests from exile, urging demonstrators this week to maintain the motion “disciplined” and “as massive as doable.”
Iranian opposition determine and son of the final shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Reza Pahlavi, holds a press convention in Paris on June 23, 2025.
JOEL SAGET/AFP through Getty Pictures
The crown prince referred to as for Iranians to chant collectively towards the nation’s management at 8 p.m. native time, or 12 p.m. Japanese, on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, and lots of did appear to reply his name.
“Our purpose is not simply to take to the streets. The purpose is to organize to grab and maintain metropolis facilities,” Pahlavi stated in a video message on Jan. 9.
Pahlavi’s name to motion “might be a turning level” within the protest motion, Yacoubian instructed CBS Information on Thursday.
“This can be a regime that’s not afraid to make use of deadly pressure,” Yacoubian stated. “However the query is, to what extent, in the event that they develop into overwhelmed, if the protests develop into overwhelmingly massive and if there are parts in safety forces, police, and so forth, type of at that native degree, who themselves are struggling the results of this financial disaster and who resolve to not shoot at individuals: These are the sorts of questions I believe that we have to watch.”
The Related Press,
Natalie Model,
Khaled Wassef,
Elizabeth Palmer and
Seyed Rahim Bathaei
contributed to this report.
The Standoff with Iran
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