Georgian demonstrators watch Iran closely as their own protests grind on
While thousands of Iranians take to the streets daily demanding the downfall of the Islamic Republic, people in the small European country of Georgia, along Russia’s southern border, have been protesting at various levels of intensity for over a year following disputed parliamentary elections in 2024.
Everyday Georgians who are still braving freezing temperatures and allegations of violence by the authorities are looking at their peers fighting for democracy in Iran and seeing their own struggle playing out against a corrupt and unpopular regime.
“When you walk through the demonstrations every day in Tbilisi, all people talk about is Iran. The heated debate over it shows how much it matters and how optimism is out on the streets due to developments despite controversies,” Tinatin Khidasheli, former defense minister of Georgia, told Fox News Digital.
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“Developments in Iran resonate in a very human way: if people can challenge a far more despotic and violent regime, it reinforces the belief that resistance in Georgia is not futile,” Khidasheli added.
Mass protests began shortly after the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party claimed victory in elections in October 2024 and halted Georgia’s efforts to join the European Union.
Georgians have long desired to move closer to the West and join the European Union, with opinion polls showing overwhelming support for joining the bloc. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted Tbilisi’s accession path to join the EU shortly after taking power, sparking anger from many.
Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue has been crowded with protesters chanting and blocking traffic, outraged at the ruling party pulling Georgia away from Europe and closer to a Russian-oriented foreign policy.
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Erekle Koplatadze, a 33-year-old from Tbilisi, has been participating in protests almost daily since November 2024. Koplatadze, who was detained for six days for allegedly blocking a road while protesting in November 2025, told Fox News Digital that there has been a feeling of solidarity with the protests in Iran since people rose up in December against economic mismanagement and regime corruption.
“You will see many Lion and Sun flags (Iran’s national flag until the 1979 Islamic Revolution) in front of Georgia’s Parliament. And there have been protests in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi,” Koplatadze said.
Koplatadze said the news coming out of Iran and the regime’s brutal violence employed against innocent people has shaken many Georgians in the crowd and a shared sense of empathy has emerged.
“I don’t remember such a big protest in Tbilisi in support of a foreign nation except for Ukraine,” he said.
Ana Riaboshenko, co-founder of the “Initiative Culture For Democracy” who attends protests on a regular basis, told Fox News Digital that developments in Iran directly affect Georgia, as well as all the countries in the region.
“Its transformation from a terrorist state to a democratic government will significantly change the situation and indeed contribute substantially to the global power balance and economy. A particularly positive outcome is expected with the collapse of the Russian-Iranian partnership.”
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Riaboshenko pointed out that Russian-backed Georgian Dream representatives positioned themselves as partners with Tehran and bilateral relations and cooperation have increased since the rigged elections of 2024.
Civic IDEA, a Georgian NGO, issued a report in July 2025 detailing how Iranian businessmen and companies use Georgia as a strategic transit point to evade international sanctions and channel funds back to Iran.
Nearly 13,000 Iranian companies are registered in Georgia, according to the Civic IDEA report.
Marika Mikiashvili, Foreign Secretary of party Droa, part of the largest democratic alliance in Georgia, spoke to Fox News Digital and said while Georgians are in awe and very inspired by the bravery of Iranians, their struggle is a warning sign as much as it is profoundly inspiring.
“Many protesters see Iran as a cautionary tale of what happens when a consolidating dictatorship isn’t defeated soon enough,” Mikiashvili warned.
There have also been no statements of support for the pro-democracy protests from the Georgian Dream government or condemnation of security force human rights violations against innocent people.
As the Georgian Dream government entrenched itself in power, it implemented harsh anti-demonstration laws to crack down on dissent and used disproportionate force and other brutal tactics to squash the unrest.
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Human Rights Watch documented numerous laws that interfered with Georgians’ rights to peacefully assemble, including steep fines for protest-related violations and abusive police tactics as thousands of people have been arbitrarily detained.
Since Georgian Dream’s election, 600 people have been arbitrarily detained, 300 protesters were tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment, 1,000 citizens received fines for political opinions, and 400 journalists have been arrested, beaten, and harassed, according to Transparency International Georgia, a non-governmental organization with the goal of combating corruption in Georgia.
Madonna declares ‘I stand with Iran’ as protesters face brutal regime crackdown
Pop singer Madonna posted on Instagram Friday that she stands with Iran as the Iranian people protest Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I cannot think of a more relevant phrase than this as we enter the year of the Fire Horse! As I reflect on my time in Morocco over the holidays I think of all the people in Iran who are fighting a much needed revolution and willing to die for what they believe in,” the 67-year-old singer shared in an Instagram post.
Madonna’s comments came amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and as the Iranian people rise up against Khamenei’s brutal regime.
TRUMP CREDITS HALTED IRAN EXECUTIONS FOR HOLDING OFF MILITARY STRIKES
The protests stemmed from the cloistered Middle Eastern country’s economic crisis, which has become increasingly dire as the value of the Rial, Iran’s currency, has plummeted.
The regime has cracked down hard on the protesters, with state-sanctioned killings estimated to be in the thousands. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency announced that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces. Other reports say the death toll is more than 3,000 people, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been weighing military action to stop the slaughter of civilians. Iranian state television aired a vile threat against President Donald Trump earlier this week, referencing the 47th president’s near assassination while on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
As for whether military action is imminent, Trump remained noncommittal, reiterating that he is monitoring the situation.
TOP IRAN PRAYER LEADER WHO DUBBED PROTESTERS ‘TRUMP’S SOLDIERS’ CALLS FOR EXECUTIONS AMID ONGOING UNREST
Madonna explained further that she often takes her freedom for granted.
“We take so much for granted. Myself included. The freedom to travel the world. To wear what I want to wear. To ride a horse across the desert. To speak freely and not be silenced by punishment, torture, and possibly death. To sing. To dance. To choose my spiritual path, not someone else’s. The women of Iran do not have this freedom. I stand with them. The people of Iran have not known freedom for centuries. I cannot claim to truly know the suffering that has been endured, but my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran.”
“The time is now. Hold Tight! I stand with Iran. Let their voices be heard,” she concluded.
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Trump credits halted Iran executions for delaying military strikes
President Donald Trump signaled why he’s held off on military strikes on Iran amid nationwide protests after claiming the country had canceled executions for hundreds of Iranians.
When asked if Arab and Israeli officials “convinced” him to not strike Iran, Trump told reporters Friday he convinced himself and cited the canceled hangings. Trump also expressed similar sentiments on social media Friday.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday.
The statement echoes what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday about the canceled executions. She maintained that all options remained on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.
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“What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday.
“And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted.”
It’s unclear from Trump’s post if he was referring to the 800 executions that were already canceled or whether there have been two consecutive days when 800 executions have been called off.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on how many executions have been canceled or whether military strikes are completely off the table now.
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations for additional comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
Protests broke out across Iran in December 2025 in response to the country’s economic hardships as well as a referendum against Iran’s theocratic regime.
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More than 2,000 people — including at least nine children — have died in the recent protests, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday.
Legendary basketball coach Bruce Pearl slams anti-Israel college protesters going silent on Iran
Legendary college basketball coach Bruce Pearl blasted far-left college protesters who’ve gone silent on the unrest in Iran after their outcry against Israel on Friday’s episode of the “Ruthless” podcast.
“Right now, you’ve got thousands of Iranians — women, men, they’re out there in the streets just asking for freedom and not have to live under this Islamic extremism insanity right now,” Pearl said on Friday’s installment of the “Ruthless” podcast.
“Where are the college protesters? Where are they?” Pearl asked. “On every Ivy League campus they ought to be ashamed of themselves for not being out there in the thousands.”
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The former Auburn Tigers head coach spoke about attending a rally this week in Washington, D.C., in support of female athletes as the Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark case challenging trans athletes competing in women’s sports, telling the “Ruthless” hosts he was hoping there’d also be rallies in support of the Iranian protesters, which never materialized at the nation’s capital.
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“We’re afraid to teach. We’re afraid to have hard conversations,” Pearl said. “Because, at a university, we’ve got to teach both sides to this. Wait a second — you know what — sometimes there are both sides. Good versus evil. Right versus wrong. ‘But we want to be institutionally neutral.’ Really? It doesn’t work!”
He praised President Donald Trump, saying, “There’s never been a better president in my mind in the history of our country, especially with what he had inherited.”
“This world was a dangerous place. He’s just trying to make it safer,” Pearl said. “The Middle East is safer right now. Iran’s got a chance to be free. Assad is no longer in Syria. Hamas and those Gazans are no longer in prison. We’ve got a fighting chance here.”
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Pearl, who is Jewish and an outspoken supporter of Israel, said he gets “a lot of flak” for becoming more vocal with his beliefs, hearing from online trolls who tell him, “Go back to Israel.”
“I love this country. I’d give my life for this country,” Pearl said. “But at the same time, I can still love my Jewish ancestral homeland. I can still love my faith. It doesn’t make me less American. But it’s the argument you get.”
Catch the latest from “Ruthless” on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on YouTube and all podcast platforms.
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Exiled Iranian crown prince reveals 6-step plan to exert pressure on Tehran’s regime
Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi unveiled Friday a 6-step plan to exert pressure on the regime, which he declared “will fall, not if, but when.”
“My brave compatriots still holding the line with their broken bodies but unbreakable will, need your urgent help right now. Make no mistake, however, the Islamic Republic is close to collapse,” Pahlavi declared.
“Ali Khamenei and his thugs know this. That’s why they are lashing out like a wounded animal, desperate to cling to power,” he continued. “The people have not retreated. Their determination has made one thing clear. They are not merely rejecting this regime. They are demanding a credible new path forward. They have called for me to lead.”
Pahlavi said he has a comprehensive plan for an orderly transition and asked the international community to do six things, starting with protecting the Iranian people “by degrading the regime’s repressive capacity, including targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard leadership and its command-and-control infrastructure.”
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“Second, deliver and sustain maximum economic pressure on the regime, block their assets worldwide, target and dismantle their fleet of ghost [oil] tankers,” he said.
“Third, break through the regime’s information blockade by enabling unrestricted internet access. Deploy Starlink and other secure communications tools widely across Iran and conduct cyber operations to disable the regime’s ability to shut down the internet. Fourth, hold the regime accountable by expelling its diplomats from your capitals and pursue legal enforcement actions against those responsible for crimes against humanity,” Pahlavi continued.
“Fifth, demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. Six, prepare for a democratic transition in Iran by committing to recognize a legitimate transitional government when the moment comes,” he concluded.
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Pahlavi’s remarks came as President Donald Trump seemed to remain ambivalent about the possibility of Pahlavi taking over the country if the Islamic regime were to fall.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump told Reuters during an interview on Wednesday. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.
“I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me,” he added.
When Pahlavi was asked Friday by a reporter about how he plans to win Trump over, he said, “President Trump has said that it’s up to the Iranian people to decide, and I totally agree.”
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“I’ve always said it’s for the Iranian people to decide. And I think the Iranian people have already demonstrated in great numbers who it is that they want them to lead to this transition,” he added. “So I’m confident that I have the support of my compatriot. And as for the international leaders to assess the fact on the ground and see who is capable of doing that. I believe I can, and I have the Iranian people’s support.”
‘Worthless piece of crap’: GOP blasts DNC chief for equating Trump’s America with Iran’s repressive regime
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin is getting hammered by Republicans for comparing the United States under President Donald Trump to Iran’s Islamic theocracy, accusing both of showing “authoritarian behavior.”
The comments from Martin came amid protests in Minneapolis and across the nation in the wake of last week’s fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Minnesota woman and mother of three by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and in the midst of a wave of massive demonstrations against Iran’s cleric-controlled government in recent weeks.
“From Tehran to my birthplace of Minneapolis, people are rising up against systems that wield violence without accountability. In Iran, brave protestors confront a far-right theocratic regime that crushes dissent and denies basic freedoms,” Martin wrote.
The DNC chair, a former longtime Minnesota state party chair, first made the comparison in a social media post last Sunday.
DNC CHAIR’S CONTROVERSIAL COMPARISON SPARKS BACKLASH
He added, “Here at home, tens of thousands are marching after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good — demanding justice, transparency, and an end to an unchecked federal force that takes lives and tears families apart. Solidarity across borders means opposing authoritarian power everywhere and defending the right to live free from fear and state violence.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally in the Senate and a longtime proponent of a muscular U.S. foreign policy, bashed Martin.
“Number one, Ken Martin is a worthless piece of crap,” Graham charged in an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.” “Can you imagine this guy fighting for freedom? To compare President Trump and the Trump regime to the ayatollah means you got the worst case of Trump derangement syndrome in the world. Go to hell.”
The DNC chair, reacting to Graham’s attack, claimed the senator is “a sniveling coward and a Trump bootlicker who hasn’t had a strongly held conviction in decades. I will wear his condemnation as a badge of honor.”
And in an MS NOW interview earlier this week, Martin argued that “people are very concerned that basic rights and human rights in this country are being violated by its own government … this is now who we should be as America, but it’s unfortunately who we’ve become under this administration.”
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But Republican National Committee national press secretary Kiersten Pels claimed Friday in a statement to Fox News Digital that “this is a desperate ploy from a man who drove the DNC into financial ruin and political irrelevancy. Ken Martin is so unhinged that he’s comparing Tehran to Minneapolis and encouraging violent obstruction of federal law enforcement.”
Democrats are energized, thanks in large part to their pushback against Trump and his sweeping and unprecedented moves in his first year back in the White House. And Martin’s controversial comments appear to be getting a thumbs up from his own party.
“I think everyone is giving Ken a pass because he is from Minnesota and Minnesota has not been able to catch a break recently,” a DNC committee member who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. “So this is very raw, very personal, and very hurtful for him.”
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Asked about Martin’s comparison, DNC committee member and longtime Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News Digital, “Ken Martin is not comparing Iran’s autocracy to Trump’s America. He is comparing Iran’s autocracy to Trump’s autocracy, specifically the absolute immunity Trump has given these lawless ICE agents, their lack of training, their being hired without background checks, and the $50,000 bonuses that guarantee that those ICE agents out there have no interest in and have no idea how to follow the law and how to properly and lawfully track down violent criminal undocumented immigrants.”
And veteran Democratic consultant Joe Caiazzo, asked about Martin’s comments, charged that “from the rhetoric deployed to policies enacted, and executive orders issued, it’s clear Donald Trump would love to be a dictator.”
A source at the DNC told Fox News Digital, “everyone is supporting the general gist of what he is saying.”
POLL: AMERICANS GIVE THUMBS DOWN TO POSSIBLE U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN
The conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board, in an opinion piece, criticized Martin.
“Overwrought rhetoric on domestic affairs is one thing. Yoking a false image of U.S. authoritarianism to the freedom struggle in Iran is morally obtuse. It’s a slur against his own country,” the board wrote in an opinion piece. “It also undermines the Iranian people, who count on the U.S. and call desperately for its help, to say that America is yet another murderous tyranny, comparable to their own. Mr. Martin essentially told Iranians that the U.S. is on the side of their regime.”
After Martin’s comparison sparked fiery backlash on social media, he doubled down.
“If comparing the U.S. to Iran makes you angry, ask why. Killing protesters. Crushing dissent. Kidnapping and disappearing legal citizens. Ignoring courts. Threatening critics. Terrorizing communities. That’s authoritarian behavior—anywhere. If you’re rushing to defend it, maybe the problem isn’t the comparison. Trump keeps pushing it, Americans aren’t buying it, and Minneapolis won’t be silent,” Martin said in an additional post on X.
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The trio of national polls released this week indicated that a majority of Americans give a thumbs down to how ICE is carrying out Trump’s push for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented migrants. But there’s a wide partisan divide, with Republicans supportive of ICE and the president.
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Cardona emphasized that “Trump and ICE are losing public opinion over this, as a majority of Americans know that this should not happen in the United States of America.”
And Martin, in his appearance on MS NOW, argued that “if Donald Trump thinks what he’s doing in Minneapolis is going to improve his poll numbers, I think he has another thing coming.”
An ICE agent shot and killed Good last week during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.
Top Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is “unlawful” and “unprecedented.”
Good’s death sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis, where thousands of ICE agents are now dispatched, and across the nation, with demonstrators calling for changes to federal immigration enforcement.
Trump on Thursday warned that if Minnesota’s political leaders don’t stop what he argued were “professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place.”
Meanwhile, in Iran, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 2,677 people have been killed in the protests. Other reports say the death toll is over 3,000, with the real number likely to be significantly higher.
The protests against Iran’s dire economic conditions, which have rapidly escalated in recent days, are seen as some of the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed the current system of clerical rule.
Secret Service aware after Iranian state TV airs Trump threat featuring photo of Butler assassination attempt
Iranian state television aired a vile threat against President Donald Trump earlier this week, referencing the 47th president’s near assassination while on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
The clip showed a sign held by a demonstrator at a pro-Iranian regime gathering. The sign featured a now-iconic photo of Trump, standing on stage with a bloodied ear after being grazed by a bullet at the Butler campaign stop, while Secret Service agents rushed to his aid.
The caption below the photo, written in Farsi, said, “This time, it (the bullet) won’t miss,” according to i24 news correspondent Amachia Stein, who posted a screenshot of the television clip on his X account.
The Secret Service confirmed that it is aware of the photo.
LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS FOR US TO USE ‘ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ TO STOP THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE KILLING OF IRANIANS
At the Pennsylvania rally, Trump turned his head a split-second before the bullet struck him, avoiding what could have been a deadly shot. In defiance of his protective detail, he stood up and raised his fist, yelling, “Fight, fight, fight,” before being scuttled off the stage.
The threat comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and as the Iranian people rise up against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei‘s brutal regime.
The protests stemmed from the cloistered Middle Eastern country’s economic crisis, which has become increasingly dire as the value of the Rial, Iran’s currency, has plummeted.
The regime has cracked down hard on the protesters, with state-sanctioned killings estimated to be in the thousands.
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The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency announced that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces. Other reports say the death toll is more than 3,000 people, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been weighing military action to stop the slaughter of civilians.
“I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump posted to Truth Social Tuesday.
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At least one U.S. aircraft carrier has been moved to the region, military sources told Fox News Digital. Those same sources said missile defense systems are expected to be deployed in the region to protect U.S. and allied military bases.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump told the media that “very important sources on the other side” informed him that Iran has halted the execution of protesters, but said he is keeping an eye on the situation.
On Friday, the president announced on TRUTH Social that hundreds of scheduled executions had been halted.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he said in a midday post.
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As for whether military action is imminent, Trump remained noncommittal, reiterating that he is monitoring the situation.
Top Iran prayer leader who dubbed protesters ‘Trump’s soldiers’ calls for executions amid ongoing unrest
An Iranian cleric has called for the death penalty for protesters detained during a nationwide crackdown amid ongoing unrest against the Islamic regime.
The cleric’s call follows President Donald Trump’s threats of U.S. intervention if protesters were met with violence.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami’s sermon, which was broadcast by Iranian state radio, reportedly sparked chants from those gathered for prayers. The Associated Press reported that the chants included, “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”
During his sermon, Khatami gave the first overall statistics of the damage from the protests, which began in late December, according to the AP. This information provides a look at the scale of the protests after the regime instituted a nationwide internet blackout on Jan. 8.
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The cleric claimed 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 other holy places had sustained damage, the AP reported. Khatami also claimed that 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 fire department vehicles and another 50 emergency vehicles sustained damage.
Another 80 homes of Friday prayer leaders had also reportedly been damaged, the AP reported, adding that it could be a sign of demonstrators taking out their frustrations against the government as the leaders hold an important position within Iran’s theocracy.
“They want you to withdraw from religion,” Khatami said, according to the AP. “They planned these crimes from a long time ago.”
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Khatami, who was appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and serves on the country’s Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council, had previously spoken out against protesters. He described them as being “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.”
Khamenei made similar remarks, saying that the protesters were “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” referring to Trump.
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Trump has been vocal in his support for the Iranian people and said early on that the U.S. was “locked and loaded” and ready to intervene if the regime used violence against protesters. It is unclear if and when the U.S. will take concrete action in Iran, but speculation has circulated following the bombing of the country’s nuclear sites in 2025 and the U.S. capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment.
US ambassador warns Iran at emergency UN meeting that Trump is ‘man of action,’ ‘all options are on the table’
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz warned Iran during an emergency meeting of the Security Council that President Donald Trump “is a man of action” who has “made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.”
Waltz said Thursday that, “We all have a responsibility to support the Iranian people and to put an end to the regime’s neglect and oppression of the Iranian nation.”
Iran has been plunged into turmoil amid recent anti-government protests, with the death toll from those being at least 2,677, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency told The Associated Press.
“Colleagues, let me be clear. President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter. And no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime,” Waltz added.
Waltz’s remarks came as Gholam Hossein Darzi, the deputy Iranian ambassador to the U.N., accused the U.S. of trying to destabilize the Islamic Republic.
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“Under the hollow pretext of concern for the Iranian people and claims of support for human rights, the United States regime is attempting to portray itself as a friend of the Iranian people, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for political destabilization and military intervention under a so-called humanitarian narrative,” Darzi said.
Waltz dismissed the claim, telling diplomats at U.N. headquarters on Thursday that Iran’s leaders are “afraid of their own people.”
“I would like to address the allegation put forward by the regime that these inspired protests are somehow a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action. Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets,” Waltz said.
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“They are afraid. They’re afraid of their own people. Iran says it’s ready for dialogue, but its actions say otherwise. This is a regime that rules through oppression, through violence, and through intimidation, and has destabilized the Middle East for decades. Well, enough is enough,” he added.
“The regime’s dereliction of duty to its own citizens is what has put the ayatollahs in the positions they are in today with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, protesting in the streets after decades of neglect and abuse. So everyone should ask themselves, everyone sitting here today, how many people are dead?” Waltz also said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Trump and his team “have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences.”
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“And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday, that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted. And so the president and his team are closely monitoring this situation, and all options remain on the table for the president,” she added.
A ‘tear down the wall’ moment in Iran will damage both the Islamic Republic — and China
Having already demonstrated a willingness to use American military might in the B-2 strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year that brought the 12-Day War to an end, President Donald Trump is robustly supporting the brave Iranian people now entering their third week of protests against the theocratic regime that has oppressed them for so long.
President Trump’s response to the Iranian protests couldn’t be more different from President Obama’s to the 2009 Green Revolution. Just days after Obama gave a speech in Cairo called “A New Beginning” in which he offered an outstretched hand to the mullahs in the hopes of diplomatic engagement, Iranian people inconveniently flooded into the streets to protest an obviously fraudulent election. It took the regime days to muster an effective response.
Even after unarmed protesters were shot in the streets, Obama opted for strategic silence, despite the fact that the Islamic Republic had been an implacable foe of America for some 30 years at that point. As his future Secretary of State John Kerry gushed in The New York Times, Obama’s reticence would prevent the mullahs from blaming the protests on America, while leaving the door open for the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that Kerry would negotiate.
TRUMP ENVOY REPORTEDLY MEETS WITH EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE AS REGIME FACES PROTESTS
Obama’s silence turned out to be great for the Iranian regime, which would spend the coming years bilking his administration into that disastrous nuclear deal that meant hundreds of billions of dollars for Tehran but disaster for the Iranian people. Forgotten while the regime attacked them with impunity, the protests dwindled to nothing.
Eighteen years later, President Trump seems determined not to repeat this unfortunate failure. While he, too, offered Tehran the opportunity for diplomacy on their nuclear program, when they refused to negotiate in good faith, he ordered the B-2 bombing strike. After the combined might of Israel and the U.S. in the 12-Day War revealed the regime to be paper tigers, the Iranian people have started to come back to life.
As Tehran has failed to provide basic services such as food, water and fuel — not to mention a stable currency or a functioning economy — they were emboldened to take to the streets and stay there with numbers and tenacity that dwarf 2009.
Also, and importantly, the Iranian people know that China, the regime’s main patron, did nothing to assist them during the war—and aren’t bailing them out now.
EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE APPEALS TO TRUMP AS IRAN PROTESTS MARK ‘DEFINING’ MOMENT
In March 2021, at the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term, China and Iran signed a strategic partnership ushering in 25 years of economic and security cooperation. Since then, the PRC has preyed on Iran, pumping it for natural resources and military support for their other vassal, Russia. Theoretically at least, they have bolstered the regime’s defenses in return.
But when Israel and America attacked, those defenses were worthless and China took no action — something the Trump administration noted as well, suggesting there’s an opportunity to reduce Beijing’s influence in the Middle East and its access to inexpensive Iranian energy imports.
A more sinister Chinese export to Iran is the so-called National Information Network (NIN), derisively nicknamed by Iranians the “halal internet.” Bolstered after the 2019 protests, this PRC-designed tool of information control is the mechanism through which the regime has been able to shut down the internet across Iran for almost a week. Given the cost to their already-teetering economy, they cannot go on this way indefinitely, but for the time being it has been an effective way to stifle communication in and out of Iran.
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If emergency communications systems can be preserved or replaced with a satellite-based system, targeted kinetic and cyberattacks on NIN infrastructure could be an effective way to materially support the protesters, as well as strike a blow against the Chinese-designed apparatus that has been used to oppress them.
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President Trump’s robust statements about the protests, and warning of reprisals for attacks against them, are being criticized as giving the regime the opportunity to blame America for the uprising while creating a rally-around-the-flag effect that will bolster support for the mullahs. But just as some of Ronald Reagan’s own staff worried that the phrase “tear down this wall” was too provocative, these critics are simply too timid or craven to take the appropriate actions to follow up on the rhetoric.
The reality is that the Islamic Republic has blamed America for all their problems since 1979, regardless of what we did or didn’t do. President Trump has stopped giving the mullahs a veto over our actions, and, thanks to him, the Iranian people may soon be in the position to tear down the walls that have encircled them for so long.
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Iran’s ethnic minorities could hold key to regime’s fate as protests continue
Even as the anti-regime protests seemed to slow down on Friday, experts say there is a major part of the country that could help decide the future of the country and that’s Iran’s complex ethnic minority population, which makes up just under 50% of the population.
Shukriya Bradost, a leading academic expert on Iran’s minorities who was born and raised in the Kurdistan region of Iran, told Fox News Digital that “Ethnic groups from the establishment of the Islamic constitution in 1979 did not support it and have been fighting for their rights for 47 years.”
According to a new paper authored by Bradost, “Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite skepticism and concern among ethnic groups,” she notes that 51% of the country is Persian, Azeris make up 24%, Kurds comprise roughly 8% to 17% of the nation, and Arabs and Baluch minorities number 3% and 2% of the population.
IRAN PROTESTS SPARK REGIME SURVIVAL QUESTION AS EXILED DISSIDENT SAYS IT FEELS LIKE A ‘REVOLUTION’
She wrote that “Iran is a country of about 93 million people whose modern state was built around a centralized national identity rather than ethnic pluralism.”
“The regime cannot survive anymore. The regime will fight to the last bullet if Khamenei is still alive,” she said.
Reports from various groups say the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, ordered the slaughter of thousands of protesters — the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists in Iran reported 2,571 deaths from the protests, while leading Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi told Bret Baier on “Special Report” on Monday that a minimum of 12,000 people are dead.
Sardar Pashaei, the president of Hiwa, a nonprofit that organizes a new generation of Kurdish activists for human rights and democratic change, told Fox News Digital that, “Ethnic minorities make up nearly half of Iran’s population, and no meaningful political transition can succeed without them. Kurds, in particular, have decades of experience resisting authoritarian rule and have consistently paid the highest price through repression, imprisonment, and loss of life. Their role is not symbolic — it is structural to any real challenge to the Islamic Republic.”
IRAN’S ‘DISTINCTIVE’ DRONE DEPLOYMENT SEES DEATH TOLL SOAR AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
Pashaei, who won a Greco-Roman wrestling world championship title for Iran and coached the country’s elite Greco-Roman team, added, “Beyond protest, ethnic minorities — especially Kurds — are crucial to ensuring that one form of tyranny is not replaced by another. Kurdish political culture strongly favors democratic values, pluralism and women’s participation, which is why there is almost no support among them for monarchy or lifetime rule.”
He noted that “In Syria and Iraq, Kurdish-administered areas became among the most stable after the collapse of dictatorships, and Kurdish regions in Iran would likely be among the most stable after the fall of the Islamic regime. Despite this, Kurds continue to face discrimination both inside Iran and within opposition politics, even though a democratic future can only be built through a broad, inclusive coalition.”
Khalil Kani Sanani, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), told Fox News Digital that there are two provinces to keep an eye on. “Today, Kermanshah and Ilam are prepared to play that role. The organizations of the Kurdistan Freedom Party and the units of the National Army of Kurdistan in the cities of those two provinces are both managing the uprising process and carrying out resistance and legitimate defense.”
TRUMP CANCELS ALL MEETINGS WITH IRAN, CALLS ON PROTESTERS TO ‘TAKE OVER’ THE COUNTRY
He noted the last major uprising began in those regions. “This time as well, after Tehran’s suppression, the cities of Kurdistan became centers of uprising against the regime, and from Kurdistan the spirit of revolt has spread toward Tehran and across all of Iran.”
The “Jina uprising” he referred to was known as “The Women, Life, Freedom” movement that unfolded across Iran after the Islamic Republic’s morality police murdered Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman, in September 2022 for failing to properly wear her hijab.
Kani Sanani said “The operations of our units in Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, and Bakhtiari against the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] forces have given great hope to the people and raised public morale. If the airspace of those regions were to be closed to the regime’s aircraft, our forces would rapidly take control of all the cities in those provinces, and from there we would move with a force of 100,000 people to assist the residents of Tehran.”
Siamand Moeini, who is on the leadership council of The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), told Fox News Digital the “The current government has no capacity or program for internal democratic reforms. Therefore, the best alternative is a joint struggle to change it and establish a democratic system that includes participation from all peoples of Iran.”
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He added that “Iran’s current centralized system fails to represent the will of its people. Over the past century, authoritarian governance and central state repression have resulted in the suffering and deaths of thousands — policies that the people of Iran have consistently rejected. In the current circumstances, we propose a democratic self-governance alternative for all regions of Iran, especially for Kurdistan, which can adequately address the needs of the Kurdish population.”
According to Moeini, “Iran’s future system of governance must be grounded in the broad participation and cooperation of all its peoples, laying the foundation for a truly sustainable and inclusive democracy.”
Lindsey Graham returns to Israel for talks with Netanyahu amid Middle East tensions
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who visited with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem less than a month ago, said in a Thursday post on X he was going to Israel to meet with the foreign leader and his team.
“I am traveling to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team at this crucial time in the history of the Middle East. The goal is to build on the historic opportunities created by President Trump’s unprecedented leadership, to stand up to evil, and to support the people who are sacrificing for freedom,” Graham wrote in the post.
“The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has thus far been one of the strongest partnerships in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and I am hopeful it will pay dividends in the near future. We live in a time of great consequence with the Middle East on the verge of previously unimaginable change. Standing together and following through on our commitments only makes us stronger,” he added.
LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS FOR US TO USE ‘ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ TO STOP THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE KILLING OF IRANIANS
Graham’s announcement comes less than a month after he met with Netanyahu in Israel in December.
In a video posted to X on December 21, Netanyahu welcomed the senator, calling Graham “a great friend of Israel” and “great personal friend.”
GRAHAM SUGGESTS TRUMP ‘HELP’ IRAN PROTESTERS WITH ‘MILITARY, CYBER AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTACKS’ AGAINST REGIME
The lawmaker has been advocating for U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iran.
“President Trump’s resolve is not the question: Question is, when we do an operation like this, should it be bigger, or smaller? I’m in the camp of bigger,” Graham said in footage he highlighted in a Thursday post on X. “Time will tell. I’m hopeful and optimistic that the regime days are numbered.”
TOP IRANIAN GENERAL THREATENS TO ‘CUT OFF’ TRUMP’S HAND OVER POTENTIAL MILITARY STRIKES
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In a Wednesday post on X, Graham wrote, “People often ask me what should we do next when it comes to the murderous, religious Nazi regime in Iran. It’s pretty simple. Stand by the protesters demanding an end to their oppression. But it’s going to take more than standing by them. We must stop those who are responsible for killing the people by any means necessary ASAP. Make The Iranian People Safe Again.”
Top Iranian general threatens to ‘cut off’ Trump’s hand over potential military strikes
One of Iran’s most senior officials issued a direct threat against President Donald Trump Thursday while warning that U.S. military action would provoke retaliation against American forces across the Middle East, according to Iranian media reports.
The remarks came as well-placed sources confirmed to Fox News Digital at least one American aircraft carrier was being repositioned toward the Middle East amid rising tensions with Tehran.
Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, reportedly made his threat during a public address.
“Trump has said his hand is on the trigger. We will cut off his hand and his finger,” Rezaei said, according to Iran International.
TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL DOWNPLAYS DEATH TOLL, BLAMES ‘ISRAELI PLOT’ AS US CONSIDERS STRIKES
The outlet also said that Rezaei maintained that Iran would abandon any notion of a ceasefire if attacked.
“If we move forward, there will be no talk of a ceasefire anymore,” he said. “You do not pay attention to the restraint and strategic patience we have shown. Stop right now. Step back, otherwise none of your bases in the region will be safe,” Rezaei added.
The threat surfaced as at least one U.S. aircraft carrier could be moving toward the Middle East, according to sources.
Officials have not disclosed whether it is USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week.
Military sources said transit to the region could take at least a week, with additional U.S. air, land and sea assets expected to follow to provide Trump with military options should he order strikes against Iran.
SOME US MILITARY PERSONNEL TOLD TO LEAVE MIDDLE EAST BASES, US OFFICIAL CONFIRMS
Rezaei is one of Iran’s most powerful military figures. He served as commander in chief of the IRGC from 1980 to 1997 and is currently vice president for economic affairs, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for Economic Coordination and a senior figure in the Principlist Resistance Front of Islamic Iran.
In 2006, Argentine authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Rezaei in connection with the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January 2020 under Executive Order 13876 for advancing Iran’s destabilizing objectives.
During his tenure, the IRGC expanded repression at home and supported terrorist proxy groups abroad, including Hezbollah.
US OPENS NEW AIR DEFENSE OPERATIONS CELL AT QATAR BASE THAT IRAN TARGETED IN RETALIATORY ATTACK
Meanwhile, unrest inside Iran continued into its 19th day. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 2,677 arrests have been recorded with 1,693 additional cases under investigation.
Another agency also reported expanded communication blackouts, including the shutdown of landlines in some areas.
“They are continuing as before, but not at the pace before the slaughter of thousands and the arrests,” Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Fox News Digital, claiming as many as 50,000 detainees.
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“There is still a total shutdown of the internet. Security forces are raiding residential areas and going to people’s rooftops. They started destroying satellite dishes,” Safavi said before describing clashes continuing through Wednesday night into Thursday in Tehran and Kermanshah, including gunfire.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi also urged the international community to act immediately to secure the release of detainees and demanded an urgent international fact-finding mission to Iran’s prisons.
Piers Morgan panel erupts in fiery clash after guest is accused of spreading ‘Jihadi Islamist propaganda’
A tense debate over Iran turned confrontational on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” after Iranian-born former Canadian politician Goldie Ghamari accused “The Young Turks” host Cenk Uygur of spreading “jihadi Islamist propaganda” during a roundtable on anti-regime protests and U.S. policy.
The political commentators appeared on Morgan’s show Tuesday to discuss widespread anti-regime protests in Iran that have resulted in a deadly crackdown by the government and internet blackouts, according to human rights activists.
President Donald Trump has threatened action against the regime, warning Tehran in multiple Truth Social posts to stop killing its people.
Uygur warned against American intervention, arguing it would be counterproductive and risk repeating past foreign policy failures.
IRAN SHUTS DOWN AIRSPACE, FOREIGN OFFICIALS WARN AGAINST TRAVEL TO ISRAEL
“And I guarantee you that both Israel and America do not want democracy in Iran,” he said. “What they want instead is a puppet leader. So, they will bring in the former shah, a king, a dictator who will do everything that Israel wants, and then the Iranian people will revolt against him, and then we’ll go through the cycle again and again and again.”
Ghamari sharply responded, arguing Uygur did not understand the plight of Iranians. As she began her response, the two quickly started interrupting each other.
“I mean, first of all, Cenk is not Iranian, so he has no idea what’s going on in occupied Iran,” Ghamari said. “Pretty sure Cenk doesn’t speak Persian either.”
Uygur cut in to correct Ghamari with, “No, actually, it’s Farsi.”
IRAN ALLEGEDLY AIRS 97 ‘COERCIVE CONFESSIONS’ AMID RECORD-BREAKING NORTH KOREA-STYLE INTERNET BLACKOUT
“Persian is the English word for Farsi,” she retorted. “So, don’t correct me when I’m speaking, and don’t interrupt me. I let you speak your garbage jihadi Islamist propaganda.”
Ghamari responded that Uygur did not have the right to interrupt her as she spoke “on behalf of 90 million Iranians,” and the back-and-forth continued.
“You’re not speaking on behalf of all Iranians,” Uygur said, before asking Ghamari when she was elected by the people of Iran.
“Yes I am,” she responded.
G7 THREATENS IRAN WITH NEW SANCTIONS OVER NATIONWIDE PROTEST CRACKDOWN KILLING THOUSANDS
“Why are you speaking over me?” Ghamari repeated before slamming Uygur’s comments again as “garbage propaganda.”
Uygur disputed that she spoke for Iranians, and the exchange continued as Morgan attempted to move the discussion forward.
After the interruption-heavy exchange, Ghamari went on to argue that the 1979 Iranian Revolution was “not actually a revolution,” calling it “an Islamic coup d’état” and saying Iranians were trying to “rectify” what she described as a decades-long mistake.
She also referenced exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi, arguing the country should “return our king,” and described Iran as a “constitutional monarchy” prior to 1979.
FREED IRANIAN PRISONER SAYS ‘IN TRUMP, THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC HAS MET ITS MATCH’
Ghamari did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Uygur mocked Ghamari’s claim that he was spreading Islamist propaganda in a comment to Fox News Digital.
“That’s hilarious. I’m atheist,” he said. “These propagandists will say anything to drag America into a war. If Israel wants this war, why don’t they pay for it and fight it themselves? We should stop fighting Israel’s wars for it. We should stand up for American interests instead.”
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said Wednesday that nationwide protests continued into an 18th day as authorities maintained a near-total internet shutdown.
On Thursday, supporters of the Iranian regime chanted “death to America” and held signs calling for the assassination of President Trump.
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