This liveblog is no longer being updated. You can follow our coverage of the situation in Iran here.
Starlink still used in parts of Iran despite nationwide internet blackout
Some Iranians are still using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service despite a nationwide communications blackout, three people inside the country said, the latest example of the system being used to counter internet shutdowns in geopolitical flashpoints.
Iranian authorities have in recent days launched a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, including a near-complete shutdown of internet service, which is normally provided through fibre-optic cables and mobile phone towers.
But Starlink, which beams its service directly from thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites, is still working in some parts of Iran despite being banned by authorities, three people using Starlink in the country told Reuters. One user in western Iran said he knew dozens of people using Starlink and that users in border towns and cities were largely unaffected.
Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring group NetBlocks, said he had heard from people in the region that there was still some Starlink access in Iran, although the service appeared reduced.
“It is patchy, but still there,” he said.
Toker added that a broader internet blackout that began in Iran on January 8 continued on Monday, with non-satellite connectivity at around 1% of usual levels nationwide, based on fixed-line and mobile internet data tracked by NetBlocks.
While it is not clear how Starlink’s service is being disrupted in Iran, some specialists said it could be the result of jamming of Starlink terminals, overpowering their ability to receive signals from the satellites.
Starlink, part of privately held US company SpaceX, did not respond to requests for comment. Iranian authorities could not be reached on Monday amid phone and internet outages. Officials have blamed the unrest on terrorists and vowed to safeguard the governing system.
Iran protests: Fact-checking claims of AI manipulation, low turnout
For around two weeks – and despite an internet blackout – thousands of Iranians have been mobilising in large protests that threaten the future of the ruling regime.
But some internet users are casting doubt over the protest images, claiming they’re in fact much smaller than they appear, or using camera trickery or AI manipulation. Vedika Bahl goes through the claims in Truth or Fake.
Trump says US will hit Iran’s trading partners with 25-percent tariffs
US President Donald Trump said that any country that does business with Iran will be subjected to a tariff rate of 25 percent on any business conducted with the United States.
“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“This Order is final and conclusive,” he said.
‘Absence of credible alternatives’ has allowed Iranian regime to survive, analyst says
Speaking to FRANCE 24, Quincy Institute executive vice president Trita Parsi said that “we’re seeing a dramatic radicalisation of the protest movement which is ultimately a reaction to the brutality of the regime”, adding that the “absence of credible alternatives” is one of the reasons that the Islamic Republic has been able to survive despite its unpopularity, incompetence and corruption.
Watch the full interview by clicking on the link below:
Ukraine’s Zelensky says world must help Iran engineer change
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the world had to help Iranians build on protests to engineer change to free them from rule that brought evil to their own and other countries, including Ukraine.
Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, described the nationwide protests gripping Iran as an “uprising”.
He said the unrest showed that Russia had to rethink its close links with Iran, which have included its wide use of Iranian-made “Shahed” drones in the nearly four-year-old war against Kyiv.
“Every normal person on Earth very much wants the people of Iran to finally be fortunate enough to free themselves from the regime that exists there and that has brought so much evil, including to Ukraine and to other countries,” Zelensky said.
“It is important that the world not miss this moment, when change is possible. Every leader, every country, international organisations must engage now and help people remove those who are responsible for Iran unfortunately being what it has been.”
Blackout over Iran: Can the regime keep a lid on the nationwide uprising?
Protests in Iran are entering their third week despite evidence of a ferocious government crackdown and an internet blackout.
The heavily sanctioned Islamic Republic has always outlasted previous movements. Why should this one be any different?
Watch the full Debate by clicking on the link below:
US officials, Vance urge Trump to try diplomacy before strikes on Iran, WSJ reports
Some senior aides in President Donald Trump’s administration led by Vice President JD Vance are urging Trump to try diplomacy before strikes against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
The White House was weighing an offer from Iran to engage in talks regarding its nuclear programme as Trump seemed to eye authorising military action against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, sources say
Non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told on Monday, as the Islamic Republic’s authorities cracked down on protests in the country.
The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many had people had departed.
The embassy in Tehran usually counts around 30 expatriate employees, as well as a few dozen local staff members.
Air strikes on Iran one of ‘many, many options’ Trump is considering, White House says
US President Donald Trump is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters, the White House said, adding that people were being “killed on the streets”.
But a channel for diplomacy remains open, with Iran taking a “far different tone” in private discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, said press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“One thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table. And air strikes would be one of the many, many options that are on the table for the commander in chief,” Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing.
Read more
Iran sending different messages to US than those in public, White House says
Iran is sending “quite different” messages to the United States privately than what it is saying
publicly, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “America Reports” program, amid protests in the country.
Iran’s Khamenei says pro-government rallies ‘thwarted the plan of foreign enemies’
“This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on treacherous mercenaries,” he said, according to Iranian state TV, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.
“These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries,” he said.
UK’s Cooper tells Iranian foreign minister: Violence must end immediately
‘The US and Israel are the sword of Damocles hanging over the clerical establishment’
As the Iranian government moved to violently regain control of the streets in the face of a mounting protest movement, Holly Dagres, senior fellow in the Washington Institute’s Viterbi Program on Iran and US policy, argued that structural changes in the Islamic Republic have fundamentally altered the balance between state power and popular resistance.
Watch the full interview by clicking on the link below:
Russia condemns ‘foreign powers’ interfering in Iran, state media reports
Russia condemned what it called attempts by “foreign powers” to interfere in Iran, after the United States threatened to intervene in the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
In a call with his Iranian counterpart, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu “strongly condemned yet another attempt by foreign powers to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs”, state media reported, in Moscow’s first reaction to the widespread unrest.
France’s Macron condemns ‘state violence’ against Iranian protesters
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced “state violence” targeting Iranian protesters as rights groups said hundreds had been killed in a crackdown by authorities on a wave of demonstrations.
“I condemn the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights,” Macron wrote on X.
“Respect for fundamental freedoms is a universal requirement, and we stand alongside those who defend them,” he added.
Who are the security forces cracking down on protesting Iranians?
FRANCE 24’s Delano D’Souza breaks down the different security forces that have overseen the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown on the mounting protests.
At least 648 protesters killed in Iran crackdown, Norway-based rights group says
At least 648 protesters have been killed in the crackdown by Iranian security forces on a protest movement that has shaken the Islamic republic, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said, warning the actual toll could be far higher.
“The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, commenting on the new tally of deaths that have been verified by the NGO.
IHR said that “according to some estimates more than 6,000 may have been killed”, but warned that the almost four-day internet blackout imposed by the Iranian authorities makes it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”.
Iran summons French, German, Italian, UK envoys over support for protests
Iran summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK to object to what it described as those countries’ for the protests that have shaken the Islamic republic, its foreign ministry said.
The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by “rioters” and told their governments should “withdraw official statements supporting the protesters”, the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.
In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that “European ambassadors” had been summoned by Iran.