Category: World

Trump says Iran has 'no plan' to execute protesters1 hour agoShareSaveTabby WilsonShareSaveWatch: Trump says the “killing has stopped” in IranPresident Donald Trump says Tehran has “no plan” to execute protesters, but still hasn't ruled out US military action against the country over its violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The US and UK are both reducing the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, while officials have told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that a partial American withdrawal is a “precautionary measure”.
Iran's airspace was closed to nearly all flights for five hours overnight, with several airlines announcing that they will reroute flights around Iran.
The Foreign Office has also temporarily closed the British embassy in Tehran, which will now operate remotely, a government spokesperson said.
Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Trump said his administration had been told “on good authority” that “the killing in I..

'I carried my wife's body for an hour and a half' – BBC hears stories of protesters killed in Iran9 hours agoShareSaveSarah Namjoo and Roja AssadiBBC PersianShareSaveUser generated contentProtesters march through Kashani, Tehran, on 8 JanuaryWarning: This article contains graphic descriptions of death and injury
Heading home after joining a protest in Tehran on 8 January, Reza put his arms around his wife Maryam to protect her. “Suddenly, I felt my arm go light – there was only her jacket in my hands,” he told a family member, who later spoke to BBC Persian. Maryam had been fatally shot – and they had no idea where the bullet had come from.
Reza carried Maryam's body for an hour and a half. Exhausted, he sat down in an alley. After a short time, the door of a nearby house opened. The people who lived there took them into their garage, brought a white sheet and wrapped Maryam's body in it.
Days before Maryam headed out to the protests, she had told her children ..

More than 2,000 people reported killed at Iran protests as Trump says 'help is on its way'1 hour agoShareSaveDavid GrittenandPaul Adams,Diplomatic correspondentShareSaveReutersArmed security forces were deployed at a pro-government rally in Tehran on MondayMore than 2,000 people have been killed during the violent crackdown by security forces on protests in Iran, a human rights group has said, as President Trump promised Iranians that help was “on its way”.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that it had so far confirmed the killing of 1,850 protesters, 135 people affiliated with the government and nine uninvolved civilians as well as nine children over the last 17 days despite an internet blackout.
An Iranian official also told Reuters that 2,000 people had been killed but that “terrorists” were to blame.
Trump will attend a meeting about Iran on Tuesday evening, and has pledged to get “accurate ” death toll figures.
“The killing looks like it&#0..

Bowen: Authoritarian regimes die gradually then suddenly, but Iran is not there yet13 hours agoShareSaveJeremy BowenInternational editorShareSaveMortuary videos shows violent government crackdown in IranHow does an authoritarian regime die? As Ernest Hemingway famously said about going broke – gradually then suddenly.
The protesters in Iran and their supporters abroad were hoping that the Islamic regime in Tehran was at the suddenly stage. The signs are, if it is dying, it is still at gradual.
The last two weeks of unrest add up to a big crisis for the regime. Iranian anger and frustration have exploded into the streets before, but the latest explosion comes on top of all the military blows inflicted on Iran in the last two years by the US and Israel.
But more significant for hard-pressed Iranians struggling to feed their families has been the impact of sanctions.
In the latest blow for the Iranian economy, all the UN sanctions lifted under the now dead 2015 nuclear deal were reimpos..

Trump briefed on military and covert options for Iran, sources say60 minutes agoShareSaveDanielle Kaye,Business reporterandClaire KeenanShareSaveMortuary videos shows violent government crackdown in IranPresident Donald Trump has been briefed on a wide range of covert and military tools for use in Iran, two Department of Defense officials told the BBC's US partner, CBS News.
Long-range missile strikes remain an option for a potential US intervention, but Pentagon officials have also presented cyber operations and psychological campaign responses, the sources said.
Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods from countries with commercial ties to Iran on Monday, as rights groups say more than 600 protesters have been killed in three weeks of anti-government protests.
Iran's foreign minister has said Tehran is open to talks with Washington, but remains “prepared for war”.
Trump's national security team is expected to hold a meeting at the White House on Tuesday to discuss opti..

'They just kept killing': Eyewitnesses describe deadly crackdown in Iran10 hours agoShareSaveRoja AssadiandSarah Namjoo,BBC PersianShareSavePublic domainA protester holds up a picture of crown prince Reza Pahlavi in Kaj Square, north-western Tehran on Friday”I saw it with my own eyes – they fired directly into lines of protesters, and people fell where they stood.”
Omid's voice was shaking as he spoke, fearful of being traced. Breaking the wall of silence between Iran and the rest of the world takes immense courage, given the risk of reprisals by the authorities.
Omid, in his early 40s and whose name we have changed for his safety, has been protesting on the streets of a small city in southern Iran over the past few days against worsening economic hardship.
He said security forces had opened fire at unarmed protesters in his city with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles.
“We are fighting a brutal regime with empty hands,” he said.
The BBC has received similar accounts of ..