Top GOP senator says Syria ceasefire welcome but actions must match words
The Syrian army’s rapid-fire conquest of important areas and towns previously controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), culminated on Sunday in a fragile ceasefire agreement with a stern warning from a powerful U.S. Senator and experts about the reported crimes of forces controlled by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Jim Risch, R-Idaho., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital, “The Syrian government’s decree to respect Kurdish rights is a good sign, but the conduct of its forces on the ground must match. Division and violence in Syria between U.S. partners only benefit bad actors like ISIS and Iran who exploit Syria to use as a breeding ground for international terrorism, including against the U.S. I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire and will be watching its implementation closely.”
Al-Sharaa, a former U.S.-designated terrorist who was a member of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, greenlighted an incursion into territory ruled peacefully by the SDF for over a decade.
Amid Risch’s warning, reports coming out of Syria claim skirmishes between the Syrian army and SDF are continuing.
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The news organization, Kurdistan 24, showed alleged footage of al-Sharaa’s forces releasing Islamic State prisoners. According to the report, “The Syrian Arab Army releases ISIS prisoners in al-Tabqah city.”
The footage has been widely posted on social media. Fox News Digital could not independently verify the video.
The State Department referred Fox News Digital to an X post from the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who also serves as the Special Envoy for Syria. Barrack wrote on X about the deal between SDF General Mazloum Abdi and al-Sharra.
“Two great Syrian leaders, driven by the shared vision of liberating their country and people from tyranny, have now come together to forge a brighter future for all Syrians. This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division.”
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Barrack added, “President al-Sharaa has affirmed that the Kurds are an integral part of Syria, and the United States looks forward to the seamless integration of our historic partner in the fight against ISIS with the Global Coalition’s newest member, as we press forward in the enduring battle against terrorism.”
However, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) commander Sipan Hamo — a Syrian organization that is part of the SDF — said on the Saturday meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Kurdish officials produced no roadmap to a ceasefire. He denied Syria’s Kurds wanted to secede or create an independent state and said their future was in Syria.
“Our greatest hope is that there will be a tangible outcome, especially from the coalition and the United States, meaning that they will intervene more forcefully in the existing problems than what they are currently doing,” Hamo said.
The head of the main Kurdish forces told Reuters that the U.S. should intervene more forcefully to end a Syrian offensive that has gained key territory from Kurdish fighters in recent days.
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Government troops launched an offensive on Saturday into territory run for the last decade by semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in the northeast of Syria, capturing towns on both sides of the Euphrates River and the country’s largest oil and gas field, officials and security sources said.
But given Kurdish “concerns about the changes taking place,” the U.S. should offer assurances of protection to them.
Hamo said that, “In the current situation and the chaos we are living in, the only ones who can offer guarantees are the United States or the coalition,” he added in a rare interview from Hasakeh province, which is still under Kurdish control.
“We believe that the responsibility for everything currently happening inside Syria lies with the Western countries, and especially the United States of America,” he said.
“Of course, we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda. We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria will be extended to the Kurds as well,” Hamo said.
Asked if he was referring to Israel’s stance towards the Druze minority last summer — when Israel carried out air strikes on the defense ministry, near the presidential palace in Damascus and on Syrian troops advancing on Druze cities, Hamo said, “of course.”
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Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish affairs analyst, told Fox News Digital that, “President Trump has spoken about giving Syria and all its peoples a fresh opportunity to turn a new page. Yet, Ahmed al Sharaa’s actions appear to move against that intention, and many Kurds believe he is abusing the political space that was meant to support stability rather than deepen tensions. “
Civiroglu added that “I don’t think the U.S. is abandoning the Kurds, but President Trump’s good intention is being abused by Sharaa. Lawmakers in Washington have also expressed unease about the interim Syrian government’s treatment of minorities, which reflects broader questions about its commitment to inclusive governance.”
Civiroglu posted footage on his popular X account of al-Sharaa supporters toppling “a statue of a female Kurdish fighter after interim Syrian government forces seized Tabqa from the SDF. Kurdish fighters backed by the United States had liberated the town from ISIS in May 2017.”
Civiroglu said, “al-Sharaa’s confrontations with Kurdish forces, following earlier pressure on Alawite and Druze areas, reinforce doubts about the interim government’s legitimacy and its ability to represent Syria’s diverse population.
“The International community must remember that the Kurdish people have long fought alongside the United States, France and the West in the campaign against ISIS, and many are watching closely to see how these partners interpret the latest escalation,” he said.
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Max Abrahms, a leading expert on counter-terrorism and a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital, “The YPG and then SDF were America’s primary counterterrorism forces against Islamic State in Syria during the war. Unlike the so-called “rebels,” our Kurdish warrior friends exhibited both capability and moderation. It’s not surprising that the jihadists, upon taking power in Damascus, would turn their guns on the Kurdish forces. Of course, we need to stand with them.”
Graham says Russia sanctions bill ‘never going back on the shelf’ after Trump backs push
The bipartisan push for sanctions against Russia has, for several months, ebbed and flowed on waves of speculation about whether legislation would actually get a vote.
A signal or suggestion of support from President Donald Trump would often push the bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., closer to fruition, only to be swept back into churning, murky waters with no clear path on when or if the package would make its way to the president’s desk.
Now, Trump has given Graham the “greenlight” to move ahead with his long-simmering sanctions package as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continue to simmer in the background.
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Graham told Fox News Digital that this time around, he believed the bill would actually get a shot.
“It’s never going back on the shelf because President Trump believes he needs it,” Graham said. “I think he needs it.”
But it has been over a week since Graham announced the president backed the package, and so far, it has yet to make it to the floor in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are also out this week and are set to return to Washington, D.C., next week with the primary objective of preventing a partial government shutdown.
Still, the bipartisan duo has been tweaking the legislation over the last several months, but the core objective would be to slap eye-popping tariffs onto countries buying energy products from Moscow.
The intent is to cripple Russia’s war machine by imposing duties on oil, gas, uranium and other exports, largely purchased by China and India, which account for nearly three-quarters of Moscow’s energy business.
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The package has been on the back burner as the Trump administration works to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The latest iteration of that agreement generally included provisions that would have required Ukraine to give up territory to Russia, a non-starter for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump told Reuters during an interview published last week that it was Zelenskyy holding up negotiations toward a peace deal and contended that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “ready to make a deal,” while Ukraine was “less ready to make a deal.”
While the package hasn’t dislodged itself onto the floor in the upper chamber, a White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Trump supports the legislation.
But one issue that threatens to trip up the process once more is where the package actually starts in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., doubled down on his position that any Russia sanctions package, despite being labored on in the Senate for several months, should start in the House, given the budgetary impact it could have.
That would require buy-in from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to either replicate Graham and Blumenthal’s proposal, or craft their own. Then it would need to hit the House floor, which could take longer than lawmakers in the upper chamber are willing to wait.
On whether Johnson said he would put it on the floor, Thune said, “He hasn’t.”
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“But my guess is that if it’s something that, you know, the White House — it’s important to them, it’s a priority, particularly dealing with Russia and Ukraine, I would assume that they would try and do that,” he said.
That’s where there’s a disconnect.
Johnson supports Russia sanctions but has said on multiple occasions that he believes a sanctions bill should originate in the Senate.
He has argued that starting the legislation in the House would drastically slow down its progress, given the numerous committees any package would have to pass through before ever hitting the floor for a vote.
Graham believed that the “sense of urgency now is the greatest it’s been” and noted that he has told Thune that he wants the legislation to start in the Senate, where it has over 80 co-sponsors.
“This is where the idea came from, get a big bipartisan vote and try to get President Trump to use these tools coming from the Congress so we can end this bloodbath,” Graham said.
“Now, in a normal world it would, but I just think the momentum is in the Senate,” he continued. “We can take a shell — It’s not that hard. I mean, I’ve been working my a– [off] on this thing for over a year, or whatever how long it’s been.”
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Blumenthal told Fox News Digital that he had been speaking with his colleagues in the lower chamber and added that there’s “no reason” that the package should get bogged down or tripped up in the House.
Blumenthal and Graham view their sanctions push as providing Trump with another weapon to force Putin to the negotiating table.
He argued that “security is the linchpin here, but forcing Putin to come to the table also involves economic pressure, and ultimately, we want peace, and that will involve both economic and military security.”
“I feel very, very encouraged, because I think that a lot is coming together,” Blumenthal said.
World Economic Forum boots Iranian foreign minister from Davos summit amid deadly crackdown on protesters
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday withdrew an invitation for Iran’s foreign minister to attend the Davos summit in Switzerland after an advocacy group urged it to bar Iranian regime officials amid nationwide anti-government protests that have left thousands dead.
In a post on X, the WEF confirmed that Abbas Araghchi would not be permitted to attend the five-day event.
“Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year,” the organization said.
The announcement comes after the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) sent a letter to WEF President Børge Brende on Friday, urging him to rescind the invitation and bar Iranian regime officials from attending amid a brutal crackdown on civilians.
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UANI CEO Ambassador Mark Wallace welcomed the decision, telling Fox News Digital in a statement after Araghchi’s invitation was withdrawn: “UANI commends the World Economic Forum for revoking the invitation of Iran’s Foreign Minister from this year’s gathering in Davos. Iranian regime representatives should not be platformed at international events given their crimes against the Iranian people and their long history of supporting terrorism.”
Iran is currently facing nationwide anti-government protests that have drawn a violent response from security forces and placed growing pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said on Sunday that nationwide protests continued into the 22nd day as President Donald Trump weighs possible U.S. military action.
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The group’s aggregated figures showed 624 recorded protests, the arrest of at least 24,669 people and the confirmed deaths of 3,919 individuals.
HRANA said 3,685 of those killed were protesters, including 25 children under the age of 18.
Nearly 9,000 deaths remain under investigation.
White House press secretary Karoline Levitt said at a press briefing last week that the Trump administration was closely watching the situation in Iran.
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“All options remain on the table for the president,” she told reporters.
Iran state TV hacked to show exiled Crown Prince Pahlavi
Multiple Iranian state TV channels were hacked on Sunday amid a near-total internet shutdown to air footage of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and images of anti-government protests that have rocked Tehran in recent weeks.
Two clips of Pahlavi were shown as well as a graphic calling on Iranian security forces to side with the public, The Associated Press reported.
“Don’t point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran,” one graphic read, according to a translation from the outlet.
Pahlavi himself called on Iran’s military to break with the Islamic Republic and side with the people.
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“I have a special message for the military. You are the national army of Iran, not the Islamic Republic army,” he said in the hacked broadcast. “You have a duty to protect your own lives. You don’t have much time left. Join the people as soon as possible.”
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said on Sunday that nationwide protests continued into the 22nd day as President Donald Trump weighs possible U.S. military action.
The group’s aggregated figures showed 624 recorded protests, the arrest of at least 24,669 people and the confirmed deaths of 3,919 individuals.
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HRANA said 3,685 of those killed were protesters, including 25 children under the age of 18.
Nearly 9,000 deaths remain under investigation.
Iran International reported that witnesses across multiple cities told them security forces stormed hospitals, removed injured protesters and interfered with medical care, while reports from other areas described overwhelmed morgues and a strong security presence around medical facilities.
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The outlet also reported that witnesses described injured protesters being left without medical care after shootings, as ambulances failed to arrive and phone networks were unavailable.
Others said hospitals were inaccessible or refused treatment, resulting in some wounded protesters bleeding to death while taking shelter in nearby buildings.
Iran strikes could signal limits of Beijing, Moscow’s power as US flexes strength
President Donald Trump is weighing whether to pull the trigger and launch strikes against Iran — a move that could potentially expose the weaknesses of both Russia and China, according to experts.
While Russia and China have sought to make inroads in areas of Africa and Latin America — presenting themselves as partners for infrastructure and military equipment — neither Russia nor China intervened to defend their ally Venezuela when the U.S. took action Jan. 3 to topple dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Potential strikes in Iran, coupled with the strikes in Venezuela to overthrow Maduro, would drive home just how formidable the U.S. is and even near-peer adversaries like Beijing can’t compete, according to experts.
“Beijing would likely respond with familiar condemnations and calls for restraint, but the deeper takeaway would be uncomfortable: China’s partnerships offer little protection when the United States decides to act,” Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a statement Wednesday. “Venezuela made that clear regionally; Iran would underscore it globally. Chinese officials will brand Washington reckless or rogue, but privately this episode would validate long-standing Chinese views about how power is actually exercised and that the U.S. is the only country willing and able to project force across multiple theaters on short notice.”
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“Two complex military operations in two regions just two weeks apart would reinforce a core assessment inside China’s system: America’s military might remains unmatched, and Washington is willing to use it when it judges the risks manageable,” Singleton said. “That combination commands professional respect even as it sharpens Chinese unease.”
Mark Cancian, a senior advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ defense and security department, voiced similar sentiments and said that countries like Iran and Venezuela who’ve cozied up to Russia and Beijing are likely realizing the pitfalls of those ties.
For example, Venezuela has had long-standing ties to Russia and has purchased Russian military equipment — yet Russia was not there to safeguard Caracas from U.S. strikes or prevent the U.S. from capturing Maduro, Cancian said. Another military strike in Iran would only expose Russia and China’s limitations further, Cancian said.
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“I think many countries are seeing that Russia and China can’t protect them, that those alliances have severe limitations,” Cancian told Fox News Digital Friday.
“I think that a strike on Iran would make the same point,” Cancian said.
According to Cancian, the reason Moscow and Beijing can’t defend their allies and partners is because neither maintains a global military like the U.S. does.
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“The United States does maintain United bases all over the world,” Cancian said. “It has a Navy that deploys all over the world. The Chinese don’t have that. The Russians don’t have that. So although they have powerful militaries, they don’t have the global capability to protect allies and partners.”
Meanwhile, Trump is still weighing whether he’ll conduct strikes on Iran again. The president told reporters Jan. 11 on Air Force One that the administration was “looking at some very strong options,” and Tuesday said that all meetings with the Iranian regime were scrapped until “the senseless killing of protesters STOPS.” He said that those who’ve killed anti-regime demonstrators will face consequences.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that even though “killing in Iran is stopping,” he wouldn’t rule out military action and that the U.S. would “watch and see” what happens. Meanwhile, Trump said Friday that he had held off on strikes for now because Iran had canceled executions for more than 800 people.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that warnings of potential military strikes against Iran were “categorically unacceptable,” and said that it amounted to “subversive external interference.”
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning similarly told reporters it opposes any interference in other countries’ affairs, when asked about potential strikes.
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Protests broke out across Iran in December 2025 in response to economic hardships facing the country, as well as a referendum against Iran’s theocratic regime.
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. According to The Sunday Times, that number is much higher. The outlet reported Sunday that a report doctors in the region created estimates roughly 16,000 protesters have been killed.
Trump authorized several major military operations in recent months, on top of the strikes in Venezuela. For example, he also signed off on strikes in Nigeria and Syria in December targeting those affiliated with the Islamic State.
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This also wouldn’t be the first time Trump has conducted strikes against Iran — should he choose to go through with them. In June, he signed off on strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear sites Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Rand Paul says US in ‘active war’ with Venezuela: ‘I still hope it works out for the best’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Sunday that the U.S. is engaged in an “ongoing war” with Venezuela following what he described as recent U.S. actions involving the country.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Paul said the U.S. continues to be in conflict with Venezuela over its oil.
“That is an act of war, it’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil, ongoing war, to distribute it,” Paul said.
“I still hope it works out for the best, but we are still involved in an active war with Venezuela,” he continued.
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The senator added that “we still have hundreds of ships with a 100% blockade of the coast.”
This comes after the U.S. operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizing of oil tankers from the country.
Venezuela is one of the biggest producers of oil, and its oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration. Officials said oil sales to the U.S. will start immediately with an initial shipment of about 30 million to 50 million barrels and that the shipments will continue indefinitely.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
Trump has also said the U.S. would continue “running” Venezuela for much longer than a few months. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said it will take time for Venezuela, now led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, to reach a place where it can hold elections.
More than half of U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration running Venezuela, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University.
Paul is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican has said amounts to war.
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The group attempted to pass a war powers resolution last week to block the president from additional intervention without congressional approval, but the effort failed in the Senate.
“The only problem about a war powers vote now is that, since it hasn’t happened, there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Oh, that’s prospective. I’m not going to tie his hands prospectively,'” Paul said on Sunday.
“The problem is, if you wait until after an invasion, whereas the administration argues, we don’t know it’s a war until we count the casualties. That’s sort of a crazy definition of war, because our job is to initiate or declare war,” he added.
Iran accused of killing 16,500 in sweeping ‘genocide’ crackdown: report
Iranian protesters are facing their deadliest days yet as security forces unleash mass killings and executions in a sweeping crackdown some have labeled “genocide,” new reports say.
According to The Sunday Times, a report compiled by doctors entrenched in the region and reviewed by the outlet estimates that security forces have killed at least 16,500 protesters and injured more than 330,000 others.
The report also described the violence as an “utter slaughter,” warning that the true toll may be even higher due to restricted access to hospitals and the near-total shutdown of communications.
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Most of the victims, the report says, are believed to be under the age of 30, underscoring the heavy toll on Iran’s younger generation as the regime intensifies its efforts to crush dissent.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged Sunday that “several thousands” have been killed since protests erupted Dec. 28.
In a televised address, he blamed demonstrators, calling them “foot-soldiers of the U.S.” and falsely claiming protesters were armed with imported live ammunition.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that as of day 22 of the protests, verified figures show 3,919 people killed, with 8,949 additional deaths under investigation, 2,109 severely injured, and 24,669 detainees.
HRANA noted that the true toll is likely far higher due to the internet shutdown.
Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and medical director of Munich MED, said in The Sunday Times report that doctors across Iran are “shocked and crying,” despite having experience treating war injuries.
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“This is a whole new level of brutality,” Parasta said. He added that Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran have been the only means of communication since authorities cut internet access on Jan. 8.
Eyewitnesses who fled Iran also described snipers targeting protesters’ heads, mass shootings and systematic blinding using pellet guns.
One former Iranian resident said in the report that doctors reported more than 800 eye removals in a single night in the capital alone, with possibly more than 8,000 people blinded nationwide.
“This is genocide under the cover of digital darkness,” Parasta said.
Alongside the street killings, executions have surged dramatically, according to Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Safavi told Fox News Digital that 2,200 people were executed in 2025, while 153 have already been hanged in the first 18 days of January 2026, averaging more than eight executions per day.
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“Ali Khamenei is continuing mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters,” Safavi said. “Three executions in the form of hanging are now happening every hour according to our data.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously disputed high death tolls reported in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, claiming fatalities were only in the hundreds and dismissing higher figures as “misinformation.”
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President Donald Trump sharply condemned Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a “sick man” and urging new leadership in Iran.
In an interview with Politico, Trump accused Khamenei of overseeing “the complete destruction of the country” and using “violence at levels never seen before,” adding that Iran’s leadership should “stop killing people.”
Viral protest video against Iran’s supreme leader sparks copycat demonstrations worldwide
A viral video showing an Iranian refugee lighting a cigarette using a burning image of Iran’s supreme leader has become a global flashpoint as protests rock the Islamic Republic and President Donald Trump weighs military action against the regime.
The Associated Press reported the 34-second video shows a woman believed to be living in Canada igniting a photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – a capital crime in Iran – before calmly lighting a cigarette and letting the image fall to the ground.
The images accompanying this story show protesters recreating the act at demonstrations outside Iran, not the woman featured in the original viral video.
The footage has spread rapidly across social media as Iran’s government carries out a violent crackdown on dissent that activists say has killed thousands.
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The video has been shared millions of times across platforms such as X, Instagram and Reddit, with many viewers seeing it as a stark act of defiance against Iran’s clerical rulers.
Others have questioned whether the moment was spontaneous or staged, highlighting the growing skepticism that surrounds viral images in an age of artificial intelligence and information warfare.
What is undisputed is the symbolism of the act. In Iran, burning an image of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can be punishable by death.
Smoking in public is considered immodest, and women are legally required to wear hijabs. In the brief clip, the woman defies all three norms at once, appearing without a headscarf as her hair hangs close to the flame.
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The gesture has leapt from the digital world into the real one. Photos and videos have surfaced from protests in Europe, Israel and the U.S. showing demonstrators lighting cigarettes using images of Khamenei, mimicking what has become known online as the “cigarette girl” moment.
Iranian state media has announced wave after wave of arrests, targeting those it labels “terrorists” and seizing Starlink satellite internet equipment – often the only way videos can escape the country during government-imposed internet blackouts.
Activists say the regime has intensified repression in recent weeks as unrest spreads amid economic collapse and political instability.
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The AP reported the woman has described herself in interviews with other outlets as an Iranian refugee living in Toronto, and said she fled Iran after repeated arrests and abuse by security forces.
She filmed the video on Jan. 7, according to The AP – one day before Iran imposed a near-total internet blackout. She did so to show solidarity with “friends” inside the country, she said. She has asked that her real name not be published, citing fears for her safety and for family members who remain in Iran.
The video’s explosive reach underscores how social media has become a central battleground in modern conflicts, with images shaping global perception faster than governments can control them.
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As Trump weighs next steps toward Tehran, the clip has become more than a viral moment – it has become a symbol of resistance, scrutiny and the high stakes of dissent under authoritarian rule.