Rubio: Protests In Iran Will Flare Up Again
Speaking at a meeting of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was currently no plan to attack Iran but that building up military forces in the region was "wise and prudent."
In summary, Rubio said:
- The regime's crackdown tactics were "horrifying," noting that Iranian snipers killed protesters.
- The regime is "weaker than it has ever been," unable to fix protesters' main issue: economic stagnation worsened by sanctions.
- Protests have quieted for now but will likely "spark up again."
- In response to a question about the US State Department's estimate of the number of people killed in the protests, Rubio said: "Definitely in the thousands."
Glimpses Of Iran's Brutal Crackdown Trickle Out Despite Internet Blackout
Despite the Internet blackout, videos showing the extent of Iran's crackdown on protests continue to trickle out. Iranians inside the country have told RFE/RL's Radio Farda how security forces engaged in mass shootings and arrested tens of thousands before quiet returned to the streets of Iran.
German Chancellor: Regime's Days Are Numbered
German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz said on January 28 that the Iranian government’s "days are numbered."
“A regime that can only hold onto power through sheer violence and terror against its own population: its days are numbered,” Merz said at a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
He added: “It could be a matter of weeks but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country."
Ted Cruz: US Should Arm Protesters
In a post on X, the Republican senator for Texas, Ted Cruz, said that the US should be arming Iranian protesters now.
Cruz also wrote that overthrowing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would "make America much, much safer."
Trump Calls On Iran To 'Make A Deal' Or Next US Attack Will Be 'Far Worse'
Latest from our news desk here:
US President Donald Trump has reiterated his call for Iran to "make a deal" over its nuclear program or face a "far worse attack" than the one aimed at the country last year when US and Israeli air strikes pummeled Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump has been threatening military strikes against Iran in the wake of a brutal crackdown on antiestablishment protests that rights groups and eyewitness accounts say left thousands dead.
The United States in recent days has deployed jet fighters, air defenses, and what Trump has called an "armada" to the Middle East, a move that has heightened tensions with Iran and increased the likelihood of military action according to experts.
"Hopefully Iran will quickly “Come to the Table” and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is good for all parties," Trump said in a social media post on January 28.
Iran Says No Talks With US Amid 'Threats Of Military Action'
Iran's foreign minister said negotiations with Washington cannot take place in an atmosphere of threats of military action in response to a deadly crackdown on anti-establishment protests.
The United States is deploying jet fighters, air defenses, and an air carrier with thousands of troops to the Middle East in a move that has heightened tensions with Iran and increased the likelihood of some sort of military action against Tehran.
US President Donald Trump threatened military strikes against Iran after the authorities, according to several rights groups, killed thousands of people in the crackdown. Trump has backed away slightly from the threats, although he has not ruled out an attack on the Islamic republic and said on January 27 that US warships had arrived in Middle East waters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted by the ISNA state news agency on January 28 as saying that "conducting diplomacy through military threat cannot be effective or useful."
He added that he had "no contact" with US envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days and that "Iran has not sought negotiations." Trump said in an interview with Axios on January 26 that Tehran has "called on numerous occasions."
Iran Executes Man For Allegedly Spying For Israel, Second In A Month
Iran has executed a man on charges of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, state media reported on January 28, the second such execution in less than a month.
Hamidreza Sabet Esmaeilpur was hanged after being convicted of espionage, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said.
He was arrested in April 2025.The judiciary alleged Sabet had transmitted classified documents to Israel and was involved in sabotage operations targeting Defense Ministry missile facilities in 2022.
Iran hanged Ali Ardestani on January 7 on similar espionage charges. State media claimed he had confessed to sending information to Mossad operatives in exchange for cryptocurrency. Rights groups have for years accused Iran of extracting forced confessions.
Pompeo: Iran 'Can't Be Negotiated With'
Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state during Donald Trump's first presidential term, says the United States should not hope for an agreement with Iran's leadership.
In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said that he believes the Islamic republic will only back down by force.
He published part of the interview on his X account, writing: "The Iranian dictatorship may say it wants an agreement, but any arrangement that keeps this regime in power is inherently incompatible with regional security. This is not a regime that can be negotiated with."
At the same time, Pompeo welcomed the dispatch of US warships to Iran and emphasized the need to maintain strong US pressure on the Iranian government from abroad in order to help the people inside the country determine their own destiny.
Good morning.
According to the latest aggregated data compiled by US-based rights group HRANA as of January 27, the total number of confirmed deaths has reached 6,221. Of these, 5,858 were protesters, 100 were children under the age of 18, 214 were forces affiliated with the government, and 49 were nonprotester civilians. The number of deaths still under investigation has been reported as 17,091. The total number of arrests has reached 42,324.
US President Donald Trump says "another beautiful armada" is heading toward Iran. "There is another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now. So, we'll see," Trump said on January 27 in a speech in the US state of Iowa. "I hope they make a deal," Trump added, with regard to the leadership in Tehran.
On January 26, the US Department of Homeland Security deported three known or suspected terrorists, all of whom are former members of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They were named as Ehsan Khaledi, Mohammad Mehrani, and Morteza Nasirikakolaki.
First Public Trial Of Protesters Begins In Iran
In what appears to be the first public trial of a protester related to the recent unrest in Iran, the country's judiciary has released images from a court session in the city of Malard on January 27.
The Mizan News Agency reported that the trial opened against multiple defendants accused of involvement in the death of Shahin Dehghani, a law enforcement officer, in Malard earlier this month.
According to news reports, the first defendant in the case is Mohammad Abbasi. His trial was held publicly, during which images of Dehghani's bloodied corpse were displayed on a screen in the courtroom.
The judiciary accuses Abbasi of killing Dehghani by stabbing him with a knife.
The Etemaad newspaper reported that Abbasi's lawyer told the court that the victim had suffered multiple wounds, not all of which were inflicted with the defendant's weapon.
Human rights organizations, criticizing Iran's judicial procedures, consider such trials to lack fair judicial standards.
Iran's security forces have arrested thousands of people on charges of involvement in killings or destruction of public property in the state's brutal crackdown. Some were forced to make confessions on state television.