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Iran crisis: Trump ‘unafraid’ to use ‘lethal force’ on Iran but wants diplomacy to be ‘first option’, says White House – as it happened
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Original article by Lucy Campbell, Kirsty McEwen, Frances Mao, Yohannes Lowe and Adam Fulton
Closing summary
We’re pausing our live coverage – thank you for reading along. Here’s a quick recap of today’s key developments:
At least 648 demonstrators have so far been killed in the ongoing crackdown by Iranian security forces against the most significant anti-government demonstrations in Iran in years, according to the latest count from the rights groups tracking the death toll. The true number, of course, could be far higher, given the difficulties arising from the days-long nationwide internet blackout. Here is a visual guide to the protest movement.
Donald Trump said the United States was considering “very strong options” to intervene in Iran, having previously threatened to intervene militarily if the regime continued to kill protesters.
Diplomatic channels between Washington and Tehran remain open, and the White House said today that Iran is sending “quite different” messages to the United States privately than what it is saying publicly, and the US has “an interest in exploring those messages”.
While diplomacy remains the “first option”, Trump is “unafraid” to respond to the killing of protesters with military force “if and when he deems that necessary”, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She also said that the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is and “will continue” to be a key player in diplomatic discussions with Iran.
Iran’s supreme leader in turn accused the US of “deceit” and relying on “treacherous mercenaries”, while praising state-organised pro-government rallies in Tehran. You can read more about the staged rallies here.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran was not seeking war but was “fully prepared” for war with the US. “If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it”, Araghchi told Al Jazeera Arabic, referring to last summer’s bombings of three nuclear sites in Iran. “We have a large and extensive military preparedness compared to what we had during the last war. We are prepared for all options and hope Washington chooses the wise option.” He went on: “We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect.”
The UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper told Araghchi that the Iranian government must immediately end its “horrific” violence against protesters. In response, Araghchi warned the UK “to avoid interfering in Iran’s internal affairs”. He also threatened to evacuate the Iranian embassy in London.
Lastly, if it is safe for you to do so, we would like to speak to people in Iran. Could you tell us about your experience of living there during this time? How has the current situation affected your day-to-day existence? What are your thoughts on a US intervention?
We would also like to hear from Iranians living abroad. How are friends and family coping? What are your views on Trump’s comments regarding a US intervention?
Please note that while we’d like to hear from you, your security is most important. We recognise it may not always be safe or appropriate to record or share your experiences, so please think about this when considering whether to get in touch with the Guardian.
IP addresses will be recorded on a third-party web server, so for true anonymity, use our secure messaging service, however, anything submitted on the form below will be encrypted and confidential if you wish to continue.
Some Iranians are still using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service despite a nationwide communications blackout, three people inside the country said, the latest example of Starlink being used to counter internet shutdowns in geopolitical flashpoints.
Iranian authorities have in recent days launched a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, including the near-complete shutdown of internet service, which is provided through fiber-optic cables and cellphone towers.
But Starlink, which beams its service directly from thousands of low-earth orbit satellites, is still working in some places in Iran, despite being banned by authorities there, three people using Starlink in the country told Reuters. One of them, in western Iran, said he knew dozens of people using Starlink and that users in border towns and cities were largely unaffected.
Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring group NetBlocks, said he has heard from people in the region that there is still some Starlink access in Iran, though service appears reduced.
“It is patchy, but still there,” he said.
While it’s not clear how Starlink’s service was being disrupted in Iran, some specialists said it could be the result of jamming of Starlink terminals that would overpower their ability to receive signals from the satellites.
Starlink, which is part of privately held US company SpaceX, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Authorities in Iran could not be reached on Monday, amid phone and internet outages. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on terrorists and vowed to safeguard the governing system.
Iran's supreme leader warns US politicians to 'end deceit'
Earlier today, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said pro-government rallies in Tehran came as a warning to US politicians to “end their deceit” and not rely on what he called “treacherous mercenaries”.
Praising the pro-government rallies, Khamenei said it had been a “historic day” and that these “vast gatherings filled with firm resolve thwarted the plans of foreign enemies that were meant to be carried out by domestic mercenaries”.
The “Iranian nation is a powerful one, is aware and knows its enemies and is present in every scene”, he added.
The great Iranian nation has asserted its resolve and identity in the face of its enemies.
This was a warning to American politicians to end their deceit and not rely on treacherous mercenaries.
Updated
AFP is reporting that non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, citing sources close to the matter. More on this as we get it.
Iran’s public and private messages to the US are 'quite different', says White House
Karoline Leavitt also said earlier that Iran is sending “quite different” messages to the United States privately than what it is saying publicly, and the US has “an interest in exploring those messages”.
The White House press secretary told reporters:
What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages.
She didn’t elaborate on the nature or content of those messages.
Leavitt also said that Donald Trump does not want to see people “being killed in the streets of Tehran”.
He’s made it quite clear he certainly doesn’t want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran, and unfortunately, that’s something we’re seeing right now.
And she also confirmed that the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is and “will continue” to be a key player in diplomatic discussions with Iran.
Updated
Trump 'unafraid' to use military force on Iran but wants diplomacy to be 'first option', says White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has told Fox News that diplomacy remains Donald Trump’s “first option” when it comes to Iran, but reiterated that the US president “he is unafraid to use the lethal force and might of the United States military if and when he deems that necessary”.
She similarly told a gaggle of reporters outside the White House a short while ago:
Airstrikes would be one of the many, many options that are on the table for the commander-in-chief. Diplomacy is always the first option for the president.
Leavitt said, however, that Trump is “unafraid to use the lethal force and might” of the US military “if and when he deems that necessary”.
“Nobody knows that better than Iran,” she added, referring to last summer’s US strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump claimed at the time had “obliterated” the facilities (though subsequent intelligence assessments and satellite imagery suggested the damage was more limited).
Updated
Iran's foreign minister warns UK 'to avoid interfering in Iran's affairs' and threatens to evacuate embassy
And in response to that call with Yvette Cooper, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, has warned the UK “to avoid interfering in Iran’s internal affairs”.
He also said that if the UK cannot protect diplomatic missions, “Iran would be left with no choice but to consider evacuating our personnel” from its embassy in London.
This is in reference to an incident over the weekend where a protester tore down the embassy’s Iranian flag and held up Iran’s pre-revolution flag. Here’s our story on that:
Updated
UK tells Iran to end 'horrific' violence against protesters
The UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said that she has told her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that the government must end its violence against protesters. Cooper wrote on X:
The killing & brutal repression of peaceful protesters in Iran is horrific.
I have spoken to Foreign Minister Araghchi and told him directly: the Iranian government must immediately end the violence, uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and ensure British nationals are safe.
Iranian FM says regime ready against any US military action
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has expanded on comments he gave this morning about being “ready” for war with the US in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic.
The US joined Israel in its 12-day military operation of strikes into Iran in June
“If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it”, Araghchi told the broadcaster, referring to the summer’s bombings of three nuclear sites in Iran.
“We have a large and extensive military preparedness compared to what we had during the last war. We are prepared for all options and hope Washington chooses the wise option.”
Trump on the weekend said he was considering “very strong military action” against Iran and was weighing up his options. He claimed that Iran reached out and proposed negotiations – Aragchi confirmed on Monday that he had been in talks with Steve Witkoff, special US envoy, “before and after” the protests.
“Some ideas have been discussed with Washington and are currently being studied by us”, the Iranian foreign minister told Al Jazeera.
Updated
Ayatollah praises today's pro-government rallies
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly commented following the pro-government rallies staged across the country.
On X, he shared a picture of the demonstration in Tehran and wrote:
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. The great Iranian nation, Today you accomplished a great deed and made a historic day.”
Updated
Where are the demonstrations and how big are they?
Crowds have been marching across the country each night since late December.
One of the other bits of shocking footage to have emerged in recent days shows bodies lining the street outside a morgue in Tehran and distraught mourners seeking to identify relatives.
The video belw shows scores of bodybags on the road, and on stretchers, outside the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in the capital. Rights groups say it’s being used as an overflow facility for the morgue.
Please note this video contains distressing images
Updated
Despite the internet shutdown since Thursday, protesters have managed to get out some videos of the rallies – and footage of dead bodies – using satellite internet services.
One such example is below, of protests in Masshad. Because the videos are so brief, it’s been hard to determine scale.
However there are reports the Iranian regime have ramped up efforts to block Starlink to prevent this information getting out.
Anti-regime demonstrators recount experiences on the frontlines
Sarah felt she had little left to lose. A 50-year-old entrepreneur in Tehran, she watched as prices soared higher while her freedoms shrank each year.
So, when protesters started gathering in the high-end Andarzgoo neighbourhood of Tehran on Saturday night, she was quick to join them.
In a video sent to the Guardian via her cousin who lives abroad, people walk through the street, joyous, despite a halo of teargas hanging over their heads.
The crowd was mixed, with families, elderly people and men walking side by side. The mood was calm, until security forces approached, raised their assault rifles and began to shoot at the unarmed protesters at close range.
The next video she sent was hurried. “Shameless!” she repeated again and again as she drove away, the crackle of gunshots audible as people hurry past.
On Thursday, Iran went dark. Authorities shut down the internet and the ability to call abroad, cutting the country off from the rest of the world.
What happened next was documented in grainy videos and panicked messages ferried out of the country by activists who managed to grab a momentary Starlink connection before GPS scrambling shut their line down.
Iran holds pro-government rally as regime seeks to downplay protests
Tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators have rallied in Tehran as the Iranian regime sought to downplay the continuing nationwide protest movement.
State TV showed crowds of people on Monday streaming through the streets of Tehran before gathering in Enqelab Square for the “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism” rally. There, they listened to a speech by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who railed against western intervention.
Ghalibaf said Iran was fighting a four-front war: an “economic war, psychological warfare, military war against the US and Israel, and today a war against terrorism”.
The show of support by regime supporters came as the Iranian government tried to project an air of normality, despite being rocked by the largest protest movement the country has seen since 2009.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed the situation in the country had “come under total control” on Monday in an address to foreign diplomats.
Abbas Araghchi summoned ambassadors of the UK, Italy, Germany and France to the foreign ministry, Iranian state media reported, where he requested that their governments withdraw their support for protests.
Updated
At least 648 protesters killed so far - rights group
One of the rights groups tracking the death toll has released its latest update- saying at least 648 demonstrators have been killed in the crackdown by Iranian security forces.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said it had verified that tally but estimates the actual number could be much higher – in the thousands – given current difficulties in retrieving information from Iran.
Earlier today, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA) reported there had been at least 599 deaths, and more than 10,600 arrests.
The group relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting and has been accurate in past unrest.
Nearly 600 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, says HRNA.
The Iranian government has not offered overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.
Updated
We would like to speak to people in Iran.
If it is safe to do so, could you tell us about your experience of living there during this time? How has the current situation affected your day-to-day existence? What are your thoughts on a US intervention?
We would also like to hear from Iranians living abroad. How are friends and family coping? What are your views on Trump’s comments regarding a US intervention? Tell us.
Please note that while we’d like to hear from you, your security is most important. We recognise it may not always be safe or appropriate to record or share your experiences, so please think about this when considering whether to get in touch with the Guardian.
IP addresses will be recorded on a third-party web server, so for true anonymity, use our secure messaging service, however, anything submitted on the form below will be encrypted and confidential if you wish to continue.
Updated
Some helpful background from my colleague William Christou on why this protest movement we’re seeing now represents the most significant unrest in Iran in years.
While it was triggered by a sudden fall in the country’s currency, protesters soon demanded political reform and called for the downfall of the government.
Iran’s regime has weathered mass protest movements before. But analysts say the current unrest is happening because the government has been weakened by an economic criss and the aftermath of its summer of war with Israel.”
Staged pro-government rallies reported across Iran
Iranian state media all day have been showing scenes of mass pro-government demonstrations in its cities.
Again, we still have an internet blackout that has lasted more than three days now, so very little of what’s reported on the state-controlled outlets can be immediately verified.
Those channels are appearing to show regime supporters turning up to marches and demonstrations around the country, including one in the capital Tehran, which appeared to draw thousands.
President Masoud Pezeshkian was seen greeting demonstrators and marching with them. On the weekend he had urged people to show up on Monday to counter the past fortnight of protests. Iran’s president said he was “ready to listen” to protesters about the economic worries, but also warned of “terrorist elements” in the movement.
Monday’s protests are being viewed as a government initiative to try and regain control of the streets.
Updated
European parliament bans Iranian diplomats and representatives
The European parliament says it will ban all Iranian diplomatic staff from its chambers and all premises.
The president, Roberta Metsola, posted on X, that it “cannot be business as usual”.
As the brave people of Iran continue to stand up for their rights and their liberty, today I have taken the decision to ban all diplomatic staff and any other representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran from all European Parliament premises.
This House will not aid in legitimising this regime that has sustained itself through torture, repression and murder.”
Updated
In response to questions about whether the British government would proscribe the IRGC, No 10 referred to comments from former head of MI6, Richard Moore.
Moore told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he would “caution” that the move “won’t have practical effect” and that “the danger is that something like that is mostly about us feeling better about ourselves”.
In the UK, ministers have relied on sanctions and asset freezes instead of proscription under the Terrorism Act.
As of December 2025, 547 individuals and entities had been sanctioned under the government’s regime, including IRGC members.
Updated
In the UK, the prime minister’s official spokesperson has commented on the deadly protests in Iran but refused to answer questions on possible US military action, as has been threatened by Donald Trump, or on the British government’s position on the proscription of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (ministers have repeatedly faced calls to proscribe the IRGC, a powerful arm of the Iranian state set up over 40 years ago to defend the country’s Islamic revolution).
As per the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, the prime minister’s spokesperson told journalists earlier today:
We utterly condemn the terrible violence being used by the Iranian regime against those exercising their rights and peaceful protest.
The regime’s history of depriving its people of fundamental rights to free speech and peaceful assembly is completely unacceptable, and we remain deeply concerned by the regime’s treatment of women. The UK stands proudly on the side of freedom and human rights.
We have long criticised Iran’s authoritarian regime and taken robust action to protect UK interests from Iranian state threats.
We’re unequivocal that Iran must protect its people’s fundamental freedoms, including access to information and communications, and will, of course, continue to monitor developments closely.
Updated
Dick Schoof, the Dutch prime minister, has expressed his solidarity with Iranian demonstrators “standing up against tyranny”.
In a statement posted to social media, he said:
The regime in Iran is cracking down severely on all forms of protest. Many people have been killed as a result.
The brave men and women in the streets of Iranian cities deserve our support. They are standing up against tyranny and making their loud calls for freedom heard.
The Netherlands urges the Iranian regime to stop the violence, release those who have been unjustly arrested, and restore internet access. We will stand firm in supporting the rights of the Iranian people.
EU eyeing further sanctions on Iran
The bloc says it’s ready to propose “new, more severe sanctions” on the regime “following the violent crackdown on protesters”.
The EU already has sweeping sanctions on Iran – for a span of issues ranging from human rights abuses, the regime’s nuclear proliferation actions and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But this deadly crackdown in the latest wave of protests could lead to fresh sanctions, EU officials have said,
Updated
State media broadcasting pro-government rallies in Tehran
As we’ve reported, authorities in Iran have been calling for those who support the regime to stage their own counter-protests.
Iranian state media has been broadcasting footage of what they say are such rallies, in Tehran and elsewhere across the country today.
IRIB and Tasnim News have both shared footage appearing to show protesters waving the regime’s flag. They say thousands of pro-government protesters who have turned out to counter what they call the recent “terrorist actions”.
Updated
Jason Rodrigues is a researcher and writer in the Guardian’s research department
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, who has encouraged the protests in Iran, said he wants to return to the country and lead a transition to a democratic government.
His father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was shah of Iran and had been restored to the throne after a coup backed by the US and Britain in 1953. He was ousted in another coup in 1979, which saw the return of the exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The Ayatollah seized power after the Iranian revolution, abolishing the monarchy and establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran. He installed himself as supreme leader, though the west viewed him as a theocratic dictator.
Revolution in Iran had been fermenting since the shah’s ambition to make oil-rich Iran the fifth most powerful country in the world began to unravel in the mid-1970s, leading to cracks in the Peacock throne.
A mass protest movement in 1977 gathered momentum thanks to Ayatollah Khomeini, who had spent years in exile, but helped to stir unrest through messages distributed on smuggled cassette tapes.
When Khomeini returned to Iran in 1979, he was greeted by huge crowds in Tehran. Later, once he had cemented his rule following a bloody coup, he entered the holy city of Qom, declaring Iran should be an Islamic, not a democratic republic. “Do not use this word ‘democratic’. That is the western style. We respect western civilisation, but we will not follow it.”
The Iranian revolution was covered for the Guardian mainly by Martin Woollacott and Liz Thurgood.
This is from a report by my colleagues William Christou and Deepa Parent:
Iranian authorities have sought to clamp down on protests by a very public show of force inside Iran, handing out harsh sentences to those they deem to be involved in demonstrations.
At least 96 cases of forced confessions had been broadcast by state media, evidence that was often used later to carry out death sentences, rights groups warned.
One protester, 26-year-old Irfan Soltani, had been sentenced to death, with his execution slated for Wednesday, the Hengaw rights group said, citing his family. Soltani would be the first protester executed by authorities since the protest movement began.
State media called for pro-government demonstrators to flood the streets in support of the regime on Monday, as it tried to minimise the impact of the protest movement. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, also called for people to join a “national resistance march” on Monday.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
Donald Trump and his national security team have been considering a range of attack options against Iran, including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the US or Israel, the Associated Press reports, citing sources.
Trump said his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran but warned overnight that the US “may have to act before a meeting”.
Asked on Sunday by reporters aboard Air Force One if Iran had crossed his previously stated red line of protesters being killed, the US president, emboldened by the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, said “they’re starting to, it looks like.”
“We’re looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”
We have some more comments from the German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on an official visit to India (see post at 08.40 for what he said earlier).
Merz said:
For two weeks now, we have seen more and more people from all parts of society taking to the streets across the country.
They are demonstrating peacefully for freedom and for a better life in their country. That is their right.
The greatest respect is due to them for the courage with which they are resisting the disproportionate, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.
The last major protests in Iran were triggered, in 2022, by the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in an Iranian hospital days after being detained by the regime’s morality police for allegedly not complying with the country’s hijab regulations.
She was travelling with her family from Iran’s western province of Kurdistan to the capital, Tehran, to visit relatives when she was reportedly arrested for failing to meet the country’s strict rules on women’s dress.
Witnesses reported that Amini was beaten in the police van, an allegation the policy deny, and Amini’s family and activists say she was killed by a blow to the head while in custody, a claim denied by Iranian officials.
Her death sparked months of anti-government protests that marked the biggest show of opposition to Iranian authorities in years.
The protests after Amini’s death shook Iran’s Islamic authorities but subsided in the face of a crackdown in which rights groups said hundreds of people were killed.
Diplomatic channels remain open with the US, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson says
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, has said communication lines with the US remain open, as the Trump administration continues to weigh the option of military strikes.
“This channel of communication between our foreign minister (Abbas Araghchi) and the special envoy of the president of the United States is open,” Baghaei said, in apparent reference to Steve Witkoff.
“Messages are exchanged whenever necessary,” he added, saying that while the US has no diplomatic presence in Iran, its interests are represented by the Swiss embassy.
Baghaei said Iran has never left the negotiating table and remains committed to diplomacy, but stressed talks should be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation”.
Updated
China has said it opposes the use of force in international relations and said it hopes the Iranian government and public are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said this morning that Beijing:
Always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.
The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, has written an analysis piece exploring the factors the US is considering as it weighs up a potential attack on Iran. Here is an extract from his story:
A major intervention by Washington, some are warning, will only fuel the fire of an Iranian government narrative that the protests are being manipulated as part of an anti-Islamic plot being led by the US and Israel.
Trump has promised that he will “shoot at Iran” if Iranian security services attack protesters; however, analysts suggested the speed of the crisis meant his team has no developed response ready.
There has been no major movement of US military assets, and many of his closest Middle East partners such as Qatar are urging restraint. Military options and other possibilities were being placed in front of the unpredictable president, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, spoke to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday.
The population density of Tehran – where roughly 12 million Iranians live – means it is hard to mount a targeted campaign from the air without risking many civilian casualties, as the US-Israeli assault in June showed. More than 1,000 Iranians died, creating a new, now apparently dissipated, nationalism.
Updated
'Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war' - foreign minister
We have some more comments from Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who has been addressing foreign ambassadors in Tehran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war,” he said, as he warned adversaries against any “miscalculation”.
“We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect.”
Araghchi said Iran is “more prepared” than during its 12-day war with Israel in June (when over 1,000 people were killed when Israel bombed Iran for nearly two weeks with almost complete impunity).
We have some pictures in that are reported to show mourners carrying coffins during a funeral procession for members of security forces and civilians killed in the protests in Iran yesterday:
Updated
The protests, which began in Tehran on 28 December, were triggered by the collapse of the Iranian currency – the rial - and soon morphed into nationwide anti-regime demonstrations with people also angry at social and political restrictions imposed by the government.
As my colleague William Christou notes in this story, the currency has continued to depreciate, while the government announced the end of a subsidised exchange rate for importers – a move that caused the price of groceries to soar.
In September, widespread UN sanctions against Iran came back into effect for the first time in a decade after being triggered by the UK, France and Germany (the ‘E3’) as Tehran failed to convince western powers it would address their concerns over its nuclear programme.
They were are a “snapback” of measures frozen in 2015 when Iran agreed to major restrictions on its nuclear programme under a deal negotiated by the former US president Barack Obama.
Iran was already under huge economic strain caused by US sanctions that cut the country off from global finance.
International sanctions have played a major role in worsening economic conditions for ordinary Iranians who are having to contend with high inflation, soaring prices and a huge devaluation of the rial.
Updated
We have some comments from Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on a diplomatic visit to India. He said Iranian authorities using “disproportionate and brutal violence” against protesters was “a sign of weakness”.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms,” he added. “This violence is not an expression of strength, but rather a sign of weakness. This violence must end.”
Updated
Iran’s foreign minister says internet to be restored soon
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also reportedly said this morning that internet connectivity would shortly be restored in Iran, including to embassies and government ministries. He did not say how long it would take for the internet to be restored.
Iran’s internet shutdown has now lasted over 84 hours, according to internet tracking agency NetBlocks.
The tracking agency said the blackout could be circumvented with shortwave radio, connecting to cell coverage at borders, Starlink and satellite phones.
Updated
Protests 'under total control', Iranian foreign minister claims
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has claimed the protests have now “come under total control” after the violence spiked over the weekend, according to comments being carried by Al Jazeera, which we have not been able to verify the veracity of yet.
Araqchi was also quoted as having said the protests “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for the US president, Donald Trump, to intervene.
He went on to say the demonstrations – which spread to almost all provinces and dozens of cities – were “stoked and fuelled” by foreign elements and vowed that security forces will “hunt down” those responsible.
Because of the internet blackout it is difficult to get a clear picture of what is going on in Iran as it is hard to obtain information from the ground.
Updated
Opening summary
Donald Trump said he is considering “very strong” military action against Iran’s ruling regime amid its crackdown on protests that have shaken the country and reportedly sent the death toll soaring.
But the US president also claimed on Sunday that Iran’s leader had reached out to him and proposed negotiations. “A meeting is being set up ... They want to negotiate,” Trump said, while adding that “we may have to act before a meeting”.
Tehran has also ordered counter-rallies in Iran in an effort to regain the initiative, as well as warning the US earlier not to attack and vowing to hit back if it did.
At least 538 people have been killed in the violence surrounding demonstrations, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, including 490 protesters. The group reported that more than 10,600 people were arrested by Iranian authorities.
Another rights monitor, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, said on Sunday it had confirmed the killing of at least 192 protesters but that the actual death toll could already amount to several hundred or more. It denounced a “mass killing”.
The protests – now in their second week – were initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living and have evolved into one of the biggest challenges to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86.
In other key developments:
Protests have grown in recent days despite an internet blackout that has lasted more than 72 hours, according to monitor Netblocks. Activists say the shutdown is limiting the flow of information.
President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the arch-foes of Iran of “trying to escalate this unrest” and bringing “terrorists from abroad into the country”, in an interview broadcast Sunday with state media.
Dozens of bodies have accumulated outside a morgue south of Tehran, according to footage on a video whose location was authenticated by the Agence France-Presse news agency on Sunday.
State TV has aired images of burning buildings, including a mosque, as well as funeral processions for security personnel, with authorities confirming members of the security forces have been killed.
Trump said on Saturday he would “rescue” protesters if the Iranian government killed them and reiterated his threat to intervene, posting on his Truth Social platform: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
The Iranian government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs” including members of the security forces killed, state television said.
Pezeshkian urged people to join a “national resistance march” of nationwide rallies on Monday to denounce the violence, which the government said had been committed by “urban terrorist criminals”, state television reported.
Reza Pahlavi, who is the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah and has played a prominent role in calling for the protests, said he was prepared to return to the country and lead a transition to a democratic government.
With staff and news agencies