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2h ago

Iran Protest Deaths Top 500 as US Weighs Options, Tehran Threatens Retaliation

A sweeping communications blackout hinders verification, with rights monitors citing more than 10,600 arrests.

Image
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran's Grand Bazaar against the failing economic policies in late December, which spread to universities and other cities, and included economic slogans, to political and anti-government ones. (Photo by MAHSA / Middle East Images via AFP)
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran's Grand Bazaar against the failing economic policies in late December, which spread to universities and other cities, and included economic slogans, to political and anti-government ones. (Photo by MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026.

Overview

  • The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports at least 544 people killed since protests began on December 28 over a collapsing currency.
  • HRANA says more than 10,600 people have been detained nationwide during the crackdown across Iran’s 31 provinces.
  • President Donald Trump says the military is considering “very strong options,” with officials set to brief him Tuesday on choices including cyber operations, sanctions and possible strikes.
  • Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warns that US bases and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington attacks Iran.
  • Authorities maintain an internet and phone shutdown as state TV shows body bags at a Tehran morgue and labels the unrest the work of “armed terrorists,” while protests continue in multiple cities.