Skip next section Iran government declares ‘national resistance march,’ hails ‘martyrs’

January 12, 2026

Iran government declares ‘national resistance march,’ hails ‘martyrs’

Iran’s government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for members of security forces killed in two weeks of protests, state television reported.

The government described the protests as "riots," hailing what it described as "martyrs" who had waged an "Iranian national resistance battle" against the United States and Israel.

Tehran has accused its geopolitical rivals of foreign interference and stoking the protest movement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced a "national resistance march" planned for Monday.

https://p.dw.com/p/56egY

Skip next section US could weigh precision strikes with some special forces, says military analyst

January 11, 2026

US could weigh precision strikes with some special forces, says military analyst

Marina Miron, a military analyst from King’s College London, has told DW that any potential US intervention in Iran would likely avoid a large logistical footprint.

She emphasized that a deployment of ground troops was unlikely, despite the presence of US forces in neighboring countries such as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE. Instead, Miron suggested that the US would more plausibly carry out precision strikes, potentially involving special forces.

She explained that the top US military priority would be to neutralize Iran’s long-range missile capabilities, especially given threats against American bases and Israel. She said the Iranian leadership had already made it clear that they might target both.

"This is a kind of option the US might be considering," she said. "And it could have the capability to execute it very quickly."

Asked about non-military tools available to Washington, Miron noted that options like information campaigns would be more difficult due to Iran’s nationwide internet blackout. She said these activities could still take place on the ground, but the blackout made dissemination harder.

"There could be an alternative way… on the ground to conduct such operations," she said. "And, of course, we have economic measures that could be implemented, but I think at this stage it wouldn’t change very much."

She added that diplomacy remained an available tool, with the military option as "the blunt instrument" held in reserve as a last resort.

Analyst: US might consider precision strikes on Iran

https://p.dw.com/p/56eh0

Skip next section UN chief Guterres calls for ‘maximum restraint’ from Iranian authorities

January 11, 2026

UN chief Guterres calls for ‘maximum restraint’ from Iranian authorities

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed shock at the violent crackdown on protesters in Iran.

"The Secretary-General is shocked by the reports of violence and excessive use of force by the Iranian authorities against protesters in multiple locations across the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in scores of deaths and many more injuries in recent days," Guterres said, according to a statement delivered by his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

"The Secretary-General urges the Iranian authorities to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from unnecessary or disproportionate use of force," the statement read.

Guterres called for Tehran to lift its communications blackout and take other "steps that enable access to information" in Iran.

https://p.dw.com/p/56egZ

Skip next section Iran government has ‘no legitimacy,’ rights lawyer tells DW

January 11, 2026

Iran government has ‘no legitimacy,’ rights lawyer tells DW

As protests in Iran are being violently put down amid the darkness of a total internet blackout, DW spoke with human rights lawyer Omid Shams about the contradiction between the Iranian president’s conciliatory statements suggesting his willingness to listen to protesters’ demands while at the same time the regime labels protesters "terrorists," and "enemies of god" — accusations punishable by death.

Shams said that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s seemingly conciliatory rhetoric was "just for the international community and those who are not really familiar with the situation on the ground in Iran."

"We documented this before in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement when the government started calling protesters insurgents, terrorists, combatants, which is, legally speaking, absolutely baseless. That was a code for the first surge in death tolls on September 21 in 2022."

He said that Iranian authorities were using similar language now, which he described as a "code for massacre."

"This regime — we should know that it’s a totalitarian theocracy — is an ideological regime that has no place anywhere. It’s an outlaw regime, completely detached from the international community, has no respect whatsoever for its domestic or international obligations," Shams said.

"We should understand that there is no legitimacy whatsoever for this regime to continue ruling this country."

He suggested that Iran’s government has not been stable in recent years, saying that its goal since the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement has just been to "survive."

Pezeshkian has expressed willigness to talk to protesters even as the bloody crackdown continues [FILE: January 1, 2026]Image: Vahid Salemi/AP Photo/picture alliance

Some Revolutionary Guards ‘not supporting this regime’

Shams argued that cracks were starting to appear within Iran’s security apparatus.

"Well, this regime came to power through a revolution. So from day one, they fortified themselves first and foremost against their own people and against any potential revolution or change. That’s why they created the Islamic Revolutionary Guard [(IRGC)]," he said.

"But even inside that organization there ... there are thousands of Revolutionary Guards, that are not supporting this regime, but they are very afraid," he said, adding that the IRGC had issued statements warning its forces not to resist orders to shoot.

https://p.dw.com/p/56egJ

Skip next section ‘This is your time’ — EU parliament chief Metsola to Iran protesters

January 11, 2026

‘This is your time’ — EU parliament chief Metsola to Iran protesters

EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola hailed demonstrators in Iran as "brave" and called on them to continue protesting.

"The killing must stop. The innocent and persecuted must be released. The repression must end," Metsola said in a post on the platform X.

"To those brave girls, students, men and women on the streets: This is your time," she said.

"Know that any regime that blocks communication is a regime that is terrified of its own people," she said, referring to Iran’s multi-day near-total internet blackout.

https://p.dw.com/p/56egI

Skip next section Iranian protest movement now ‘has a leader,’ journalist tells DW

January 11, 2026

Iranian protest movement now ‘has a leader,’ journalist tells DW

Nazenin Ansari, Iranian journalist and managing editor of the news outlet Kayhan London, told DW that the current demonstrations in Iran are different to previous major protest waves in that they have a clear figurehead in Iran’s exiled crown prince.

"These protests are nothing new, they started in 2017," she said, adding that she was referring to protests that are "very secular and [don’t] use any religious or Islamic rhetoric."

"So what is different with these protests today … is that it has a leader, and that is Prince Reza Pahlavi," she said.

Reza Pahlavi is the son of the last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed in 1979 in the Islamic Revolution that led to the establishment of a clerical regime in the traditionally Shiite Muslim country.

Ansari compared the demonstrations to previous protest waves in 2017 and 2019, as well as the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement that was sparked by the death of Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody.

"This is why the [current] protests are being galvanized," she said, referring to the figure of Reza Pahlavi as a leader, adding that "various political currents" in the opposition were working together.

Ansari told DW that the most recent protests had clearer leadership than demonstrations in 2017, 2019 and 2022Image: SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERS

Opposition figures sign letter calling for international support

Ansari said that a joint letter put out by opposition figures calling for international support — and that she herself also signed — was important in that it shows that the "the opposition … [is] together," contrary to the government rhetoric that would have that it is a "divided opposition."

Asked what kind of action she would like from other countries in support of the protests, she pointed to Iran’s internet blackout, saying: "provide free internet, provide access to information."

She called for the world to "cut the internet" to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other members of Iranian leadership, as well as for countries around the world to "recall [their] ambassadors."

https://p.dw.com/p/56ecL

Skip next section Iran protest death toll jumps to at least 538, activists say

January 11, 2026

Iran protest death toll jumps to at least 538, activists say

The death toll from Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests has risen sharply to at least 538 people, activists have said.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said more than 10,600 people have been detained.

According to the group, 490 of those killed were protesters and 48 were members of the security forces, adding that the toll is likely to rise further.

It said widespread internet shutdowns and blocked phone lines inside Iran have made it increasingly difficult to assess the scale of the unrest from abroad.

The activist group said its figures are based on cross-checked reports from activists inside and outside Iran and noted it has provided accurate casualty counts during previous waves of unrest. Iran’s government has not released overall casualty figures

https://p.dw.com/p/56ePE

Skip next section Why are Iranians protesting?

January 11, 2026

Why are Iranians protesting?

The demonstrations began in late December with protests and strikes in the capital, Tehran, over Iran’s deep economic woes and plunging currency

Inflation has soared to over 42%, while the rial has plummeted to around 1.7 million per US dollar, an all-time low

The unrest has spread from Tehran to towns and cities across the country

The protests have since grown into broader anti-government demonstrations calling for regime change

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been ruled by a hardline clerical regime since the country’s last shah was overthrown in the 1979 revolution

The rallies are the most significant challenge to the Islamic regime since the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement of 2022 following the death in police custody of Jina Mahsa Amini

https://p.dw.com/p/56dp8

Skip next section ‘The regime is fighting for its survival, but so are the people in Iran,’ activist tells DW

January 11, 2026

‘The regime is fighting for its survival, but so are the people in Iran,’ activist tells DW

Journalists and rights groups are reporting that protesters are being killed in large numbers, according to information trickling out of Iran.

With an internet blackout and phone lines blocked, its been difficult to get an accurate picture of developments unfolding.

German-Iranian activist Daniela Sepheri spoke to DW about the dangers facing those who’ve taken to the streets.

"It’s extremely dangerous for the people to go out and protest and they still do it. We are getting reports, horrible repords of massacres," Sepheri said.

She went on to say that regime security forces were directly targeting protesters and were "coming inside the hospitals to kidnap the wounded."

Sepheri spoke of the difficulty in verifying the numbers of dead and injured being reported.

"It’s [very] difficult to verify the numbers that we are getting because of the Internet shutdown. Through Starlink it is possible to get some of the videos. Iranian exile media is verifying them all day long," Sepheri explained.

"We can only assume that there must be thousands of people that have been murdered only in these last two or three days," Sepheri said.

‘Call the media,’ medic pleads as Iran hospital overwhelmed

On the question of why the regime was going to such measures to clamp down on protests, Sepheri said: "This is the only answer that the regime has, and this has been going on for decades. We have seen it in protests before, that the regime can only answer with violence because they do not care for the people’s demands."

Sepheri said the type of violence was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"But this kind of crackdown is the most brutal that we have ever seen," she said, adding: "Me personally, I have never seen anything like this before."

"The gap between rich and poor is so big that there is no middle class even left anymore in Iran and the richer the elite gets the poorer the people get," Sepheri said.

Iran impacted by geopolitical shifts

On the topic of how much longer the regime could last, Sepheri said she didn’t believe Iran’s leadership could hold onto power for much longer.

"I don’t think that the regime can hold on for too long. The regime is weaker than ever before internationally. For example, in Syria, there is no Assad anymore or there’s no Maduro in Venezuela as well," Sepheri said, adding that Iran’s international partners were being taken down one after the other.

"People are not supporting this regime anymore. So the regime is fighting for its survival, but so are the people in Iran," Sepheri said.

Venezuela and Iran have been close economic and ideological partners for years and US actions in capturing Nicolas Maduro would have been cause for alarm in Tehran.

US President Donald Trump has also been threatening to take action should Iran kill protesters.

Calls for regime overhaul boost exiled heir to Iran monarchy

Return of shah ‘something the people in Iran have to decide’

On the question of what happens next, Sepheri said she hoped for Iranians to choose their own destiny.

"My hope is that the people in Iran can change their future and change their country according to their own will, have free elections and a referendum," Sepheri said.

Touching on whether a collapse of Iran’s clerical regime could lead to a restoration of the Iranian monarchy, Sepheri said:

"This is something the people in Iran have to decide. There are some people who want the shah back, some people who don’t," she said, adding that members of ethnic minority groups largely "do not want the shah back."

The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, Reza Pahlavi, has said he wishes to return to Iran and play a political role.

His father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran is highly ethnically and linguistically diverse, with a little over 60% of the population being made up of ethnic Persians.

Areas inhabited by the Kurdish and Baloch minorities have been major sites of unrest across multiple protest waves in Iran.

The Pahlavi royal family, seen here in a pictured dated to 1962, was deposed with the abolition of Iran’s monarchy in the 1979 Islamic RevolutionImage: Cola Images/IMAGO

https://p.dw.com/p/56eFM

Skip next section Israel’s Netanyahu hopes for end of ‘tyranny’ in Iran

January 11, 2026

Israel’s Netanyahu hopes for end of ‘tyranny’ in Iran

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hailed Iranian protesters and said he hoped for improved relations between Israel and Iran.

"We all hope that the Persian nation will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny, and, when that day comes, Israel and Iran will once again be loyal partners in building a future of prosperity and peace for both peoples," Netanyahu said.

Iran was one of Israel’s few allies in the Middle East between 1948, when Israel was founded, and 1979, when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted in the Islamic Revolution.

Since then, Iran and Israel have been major regional adversaries, with Tehran also supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as well as other militias that have come to blows with Israel such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.

https://p.dw.com/p/56eBL

Skip next section Israel supports Iranian people’s ‘struggle for freedom’ — foreign minister

January 11, 2026

Israel supports Iranian people’s ‘struggle for freedom’ — foreign minister

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel backed the Iranian people.

"We support the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and wish them success," Saar said in a post on X.

"We think they deserve freedom.. .. We don’t have any hostility with the people of Iran," Saar wrote.

"We have a huge problem, which is not only our problem, it’s a regional and international problem, with the Iranian regime which is the number one exporter of terrorism, radicalism," Saar added.

Iran and Israel are bitter enemies and were involved in a war in June, which culminated in an unprecedented Israeli attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

The United States also briefly took part in the strikes, hitting three major Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran backs a number of proxy groups operating around the Middle East, including Hamas in the Palestinian territories and militia groups in Iraq.

The US government estimates that Iran funds Hezbollah in Lebanon to the tune of about $700 million (€600 million) annually.

https://p.dw.com/p/56e8P

Skip next section US action ‘could be the only hope for Iranians,’ journalist Sima Sabet tells DW

January 11, 2026

US action ‘could be the only hope for Iranians,’ journalist Sima Sabet tells DW

Saim Dušan Inayatullah

As protests against Iran’s leadership intensify, access to accurate information is proving a challenge.

Iranian journalist Sima Sabet spoke to DW from London about what is happening, more than 60 hours into an internet blackout.

"No one is able to get into Internet from any part of Iran unless they have a Starlink. The news that we are receiving from Iran is extremely disturbing," Sabet said.

She said reports emerging from Iran spoke of hospitals in Tehran "full of injured and also bodies" of those killed during protests.

Sabet said that communication was proving to be a major challenge with phone lines disconnected.

There have been reports of substantial protester casualties amid a brutal crackdown and internet blackout in Iran [FILE January 9, 2025]Image: SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERS

"Most of the surgeons stay in the hospitals because there is no way of communication. Mobile phones are disconnected. Landlines are disconnected in many cities," Sabet said.

"So the picture that we have from Iran is very, very disturbing," Sabet said adding that families abroad had no way of communicating with loved ones.

On the question of how Iranians would respond to any US action amid reports of massacres, Sabet said: "I guess at the moment that could be the only hope for Iranians inside Iran because the government is killing in big numbers. Some sources they are saying within the first 48 hours of Internet blackout, they killed more than 2000 protesters."

"Of course, no one wanted international interference, but there is absolutely no way left because Iranians are on the streets. They are getting killed by the Iranian government and international help would really change the game," Sabet emphasized, adding that figures from different opposition factions signed a joint letter calling for "international action."

US President Donald Trump has said on multiple occasions that Washington could "help" Iran’s protest movement in toppling Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while ruling out putting deploying US soldiers to the country.

Exiled royal Reza Pahlavi serves as a figurehead for certain factions within Iran’s oppositionImage: Ying Tang/NurPhoto/picture alliance

What is the role of the former shah’s son in the protests?

On the topic of whether the son of the last shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, could return, Sabet said:

"Yes ... he clearly mentioned that he’s going back to Iran," she said, pointing to the last two messages Reza Pahlavi addressed to people in Iran.

"I understand that there are discussions about whether he represents everyone or not. I guess everyone who is in Iran, their main priority is that [the] Islamic Republic goes, they don’t want [the] Islamic Republic in place," Sabet said.

The last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that established a cleric-led regime in the country.

His son, who has become a figurehead for part of Iran’s protest movement, currently lives in exile in the United States.

https://p.dw.com/p/56e9C

Skip next section Iran: A timeline of mass protests since 1999

January 11, 2026

Iran: A timeline of mass protests since 1999

By using violence and repression, Iran’s theocratic regime has managed to cling to power and overcome several anti-government movements in recent decades.

Learn more about the history of protests challenging the clerical regime in Iran in this report.

https://p.dw.com/p/56doZ

Skip next section WATCH: Demonstrations across Europe support Iran protests

January 11, 2026

WATCH: Demonstrations across Europe support Iran protests

As unrest grows in Iran, exiled Iranians and supporters have gathered across Europe in solidarity. Demonstrators demanded the justice, political change and basic human rights long denied to people in Iran.

Demonstrations across Europe support Iran protests

https://p.dw.com/p/56dzu

Skip next section Iran’s president acknowledges public’s ‘concerns’ but warns ‘rioters’

January 11, 2026

Iran’s president acknowledges public’s ‘concerns’ but warns ‘rioters’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the government will listen to protesters but warned that "rioters" shouldn’t be allowed to disrupt society.

His remarks come after protests, which began in late December, have intensified in recent days.

"People have concerns, we should sit with them and if it is our duty, we should resolve their concerns," Pezeshkian said. "But the higher duty is not to allow a group of rioters to come and destroy the entire society."

Iranian state television aired the interview with Pezeshkian on Sunday. It had initially been suggested that it would be aired on Saturday.

Pezeshkian, a reformist, has previously said authorities should exercise "utmost restraint" when handling the demonstrations.

https://p.dw.com/p/56dyN

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