What we covered here
• More than 2,400 protesters have been killed since Iran launched a brutal crackdown to crush dissent last month, according to a US-based rights group. Over 18,000 people have been arrested, the group reported.
• US President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian protesters to keep demonstrating, saying “help is on its way.” He also warned Iran against executing protesters, saying the US would take “strong action” in response. The US State Department fears a protester may be executed tomorrow.
• Internet access in Iran has been cut off for five days, though some landline and mobile phone users were able to call abroad on Tuesday for the first time since the government shut down communications.
Our live coverage of Iran’s protests has moved here.
Iran is entering its sixth day without internet
Iran’s brutal crackdown on protesters has largely been conducted under the cover of a state-imposed communications blackout.
Iran’s UN envoy says Trump violated international law by urging Iranians to “keep protesting”
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has accused US President Donald Trump of violating international law after he posted a message on Truth Social encouraging Iranians to keep protesting and to “take over your institutions.”
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, has written to the secretary-general and the Security Council, calling on them to condemn the United States and Israel for what it called inciting violence and interference in Iran’s internal affairs.
Iravani called on UN member states and the Security Council to condemn “all forms of incitement to violence, threats to use force, and interference in Iran’s internal affairs by the United States” and to urge the US and Israel to “immediately cease destabilizing policies and practices.”
The US and Israel, Iravani said, “bear direct and undeniable legal responsibility for the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives, particularly among the youth.”
Some context: Trump has said his administration is monitoring the deadly protests in Iran and is continuing to weigh potential military options. The protests began in late December over widespread economic grievances but the Iranian government has made an effort to cast protesters as “rioters and terrorists.”
The reported death toll in Iran has risen. Catch up on the latest here
At least 2,403 protesters have been killed in Iran since anti-government demonstrations began in late December, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
Get caught up on the latest news tonight:
- President Donald Trump warned Iran against executing protesters, saying the US would take “strong action.” The US State Department said that Iran was planning to execute protester Erfan Soltani tomorrow. Trump also held a meeting to discuss Iran at the White House.
- An Iranian doctor has given a rare account of chaotic scenes in both hospitals and on the streets following the regime’s brutal crackdown, sharing how he treated scores of patients with bullet and pellet wounds over multiple days. Learn more here.
- While some people have been able to make calls out of Iran, not everyone is able to get in touch with their loved ones and assure they are marked safe. Hear how this is impacting people.
- Iraq’s national security adviser, Qasim al-Araji, held a phone call with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to discuss recent security developments in the region, Araji said in a post on X.
- An Iranian-Kurdish militant group claimed it has captured an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base in Kermanshah province in western Iran, according to a statement released Tuesday.
CNN’s Isobel Yeung spoke to a relative of Erfan Soltani, who may be executed on Wednesday.
26-year-old Erfan Soltani is believed to be the first anti-regime protester in the latest Iranian uprising to reportedly be given the death sentence, according to human rights organizations. CNN's Isobel Yeung spoke to his relative.
CNN’s Monica Haider, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Kevin Liptak, Max Saltman, and Nechirvan Mando, Catherine Nicholls, Jomana Karadsheh and Florence Davey-Attlee contributed reporting.
In rare account from inside Iran, doctor describes patients riddled with bullets and streets covered in blood
An Iranian doctor has given a rare account of chaotic scenes in both hospitals and on the streets following the regime’s brutal crackdown against protesters, sharing how he treated scores of patients with bullet and pellet wounds over multiple days.
The doctor, has since left the country, allowing him to share his story, but he does not want to be identified out of concern for his safety and that of his family.
Things in the hospital “fell apart” on Thursday night when the internet shutdown began, the doctor said in an interview with pro-reform news outlet IranWire and shared exclusively with CNN.
The doctor had to triage patients and choose which lives to try and save, he said, based on who was most likely to survive until an operating room was free.
Overnight Thursday into Friday, the types of injuries the doctor was treating changed. “It was as if an order had been given: ‘Use live rounds now,’” he said.
“Friday night, the sound of bursts was coming – not the burst of a Kalashnikov (an assault rifle). I was hearing the sound of Dushka (heavy machine gun) bursts,” the doctor continued.
The next morning, after leaving his house, the doctor says he saw blood on the street near his home. Colleagues told him that they had admitted multiple people shot at close range in the face. Security forces were also present at the hospital, collecting names and data about those being treated.
Here are some more stories you should read about the crisis in Iran
Here are some more headlines we’ve published on the crackdown on protesters in Iran:
- If you are wondering why there are mass protests and if the US could get involved, here’s the latest.
- As waves of protests have tested the regime’s ability to manage dissent, the country with arguably the most to gain has been waiting in the wings, reluctant to intervene even when its regional adversary is at its most vulnerable point in years. After months of publicly threatening Iran, Israel has gone quiet. Read more here.
- Nationwide protests in 2017, 2018, again in 2019, and most dramatically in 2022 were crushed with force. Each time, the regime survived by relying on the same grim playbook: Deny legitimacy to the protesters, blame foreign enemies, shut down communications, and unleash the security services. Today, Iranians are once again in the streets. And once again, the regime appears to be responding as it always has — with brutal violence. Might the end result this time be different? See analysis here.
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX is now providing free internet access via its Starlink satellite service to users in Iran according to a tech expert in touch with Iranian Starlink users. Here’s the latest.
- Iran has deployed new techniques to swiftly and decisively crush nationwide protests, signaling a tactical shift by a regime that now views domestic dissent as an extension of the summer war with Israel. Read more of our analysis.
Exiled son of Iran’s last shah urges Iranian army to defect and not harm the lives of protesters
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, ousted by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has urged members of Iran’s military to protect Iranian citizens and join the wave of mass protests across the country.
Pahlavi, the eldest son of the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, has become a well-known face of the opposition in recent years.
Pahlavi, who has not stepped foot in the the republic since his father was overthrown, urged the Iranian people to continue to protest the regime that deposed his father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, more than 46 years ago.
“The world has not just seen and heard your voice and courage, it is now responding,” he said.
He also highlighted US President Donald Trump’s recent messages of support for the Iranian demonstrators, repeating Trump’s reassuring words to the Iranian people that, “Help is on the way.”
Iranian-Kurdish militant group claims seizure of IRGC base in western Iran
An Iranian-Kurdish militant group claimed it has captured an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base in Kermanshah province in western Iran, according to a statement released today.
The Kurdistan National Army (SMK), the military wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), said the operation targeted the IRGC’s headquarters in Kermanshah. The attack was described as retaliation for SMK fighters killed in recent clashes in the country.
According to the statement, the group launched the assault from two directions and successfully infiltrated the base, catching the IRGC off guard. The SMK claims the attack resulted in casualties among Iranian forces.
CNN is unable to independently verify SMK’s claims.
There has been no immediate comment from Iranian officials regarding the claim. CNN is attempting to reach out to Iranian authorities and has contacted the country’s embassy in London.
Hussein Yazdanpana, the president of PAK, which is a nationalist and separatist militant group in Iran, said earlier today that victory against the Iranian regime “hinges on widespread uprising and legitimate self-defence against the oppressors.”
At least 2,403 protesters killed in Iran, US-based rights group says
At least 2,403 protesters have been killed in Iran since anti-government demonstrations began in late December, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The total includes 12 protesters under the age of 18, HRANA’s spokesperson confirmed to CNN. HRANA also reported at least 18,137 arrests since late December in its latest update.
The new total marks another significant increase in HRANA’s estimated death toll, up from at least 1,850 reported earlier on Tuesday.
CNN is unable to independently confirm HRANA’s figures, which the organization says are based on cases it can identify and verify. Given the ongoing internet blackout in Iran, it is possible the true toll is much higher.
Trump says he's heading into meeting on Iran at the White House
President Donald Trump said he’s about to enter a meeting to discuss Iran at the White House.
Returning from Michigan, he told reporters he expected to receive updated death figures amid a regime crackdown on protests.
“I’m going back to the White House now, we’re going to look at the whole situation that’s going on in Iran. Really bad stuff,” Trump said on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.
Cabinet-level national security officials were seen arriving to the White House Tuesday afternoon as the meeting to discuss Trump’s options got underway.
The officials included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Vice President JD Vance was also expected to attend the session, known as a “principals” meeting of the National Security Council.
“Iran is on my mind when I see the kind of death that is happening over there,” Trump went on. “We think so, we’re going to get some accurate numbers. I’ll have those about 20 minutes. We’ll get some accurate numbers as to what’s happening with regard to the killing.”
He said the US would react “accordingly” to the updated death toll he receives.
Trump said he couldn’t say what his response would be.
“I can’t tell you that. I know exactly what it would be,” he said.
Trump warns Iran against executing detained protesters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iran against executing protesters, saying the US would take “strong action” if the regime hangs detained Iranians.
“If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action,” the president told CBS News in an interview, without expanding on what the US action would be.
In a Tuesday post on X, the US State Department said that Iranian authorities are planning on executing detained Iranian protester Erfan Soltani tomorrow, writing that “more than 10,600 Iranians have been arrested by the Islamic Republic regime simply for demanding their basic rights. Erfan Soltani, 26, whose death sentence was issued for January 14, is among them.”
Trump told CBS hadn’t heard reports about hangings, but warned it could prompt a forceful US response.
“We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen. And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing. When they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging, we’ll see how that works out for them,” Trump said. “It’s not going to work out good.”
Asked what help was on the way for Iranian people, Trump suggested there could be economic assistance.
“There’s a lot of help on the way, and in different forms, including economic help from our standpoint, and not going to help Iran very much,” he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly described Erfan Soltani. He is a protester.
Top Iraqi and Iranian security officials discuss border security
Iraq’s national security adviser, Qasim al-Araji, held a phone call Tuesday with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to discuss recent security developments in the region, Araji said in a post on X.
The two officials stressed the importance of controlling the shared borders between Iraq and Iran, Araji added.
They also emphasized the need for enhanced coordination and cooperation “to prevent infiltration attempts by terrorist groups across the border,” according to the Iraqi security adviser.
Iranian-Canadian describes growing up under regime
While some people have been able to make calls out of Iran, not everyone is able to get in touch with their loved ones and assure they are marked safe amid the government’s move to shut down communications.
For Pedram Hamidi, each day brings apprehension as he waits to hear from his parents in Tehran, unsure if they are alive and well.
“They don’t have access to Starlink or anything,” he told CNN. “It’s really nerve wrecking. I don’t know what’s happening to them.”
Hamidi grew up in Iran and moved to Canada for school and work after graduating from high school eight years ago. Though his family has wanted the regime to end, Hamidi is almost certain his parents are not out protesting due to their ages.
Iranians “tend to be secular people for the most part, but then the regime is completely theocratic,” he said. “So it’s at odds.”
The government imposes its ideology on schoolchildren from a young age, Hamidi explained.
“You’d go to school and you’d have to line up. Within those lines they’d start playing religious music and chants and this and that. And you’d have to repeat what they say.”
Hamidi and his classmates would mock those instructions. “They (schools) would say, ‘Say, Death to Israel.’ And people would say the exact opposite,” he recalled.
Now, “people have completely moved on from the world that was forced on us,” he said.
He sees courage in the people’s activism and their opposition to the Islamic Republic. “It’s just exciting to see it in action on the street; not just on Instagram or something in the comment section,” he said.
Trump urges protesters in Iran to keep demonstrating as Tehran clamps down on dissent. Here’s the latest
Here’s the latest on our continuing coverage of Iran’s brutal suppression of dissent in the country.
US President Donald Trump today encouraged protesters to keep demonstrating, saying that “help is on its way.” He also advised Americans who remain in the country to leave.
Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said at least 1,850 protesters have been killed and at least 16,784 have been arrested since the unrest began in late December.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what happened:
- Ramped up rhetoric against Trump: Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani called Trump one of the “main killers of the people of Iran” in a post on X after the US president said that he had canceled any meetings with Iranian officials due to protester deaths.
- Internet blackout: Tody was the fifth day without internet service. Some landline and mobile phone users have been able to call abroad for the first time following more than four days of a communications shutdown.
- Pro-regime demonstrators acknowledged the economic plight gripping Iran but backed authorities’ line that “foreign interventions” have amplified the unrest.
- UK sanctions against Iran: The United Kingdom will work toward carrying out more sanctions against Iran, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
- European nations weigh in: Several countries summoned Iranian ambassadors and condemned Tehran’s violent clampdown.
- UN experts condemn Tehran’s tactics: Experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council urged Iran to refrain from using lethal force against demonstrators, following what it describes as “clear violations” of human rights law.
- Qatar backs deescalation: Qatar’s prime minister said his country continues to back “de-escalation efforts” after a phone call with Iran’s top national security official.
CNN’s Billy Stockwell, Kevin Liptak, Catherine Nicholls, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Soph Warnes, Zahid Mahmood, Kit Maher, Max Saltman, and Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.
Fears grow over fate of Iranian protester who may be executed on Wednesday
Fears are growing for the fate of a detained Iranian protester who may be executed on Wednesday, according to a family member and the US State Department.
In a Tuesday post on X, the US State Department said that Iranian authorities are planning on executing Erfan Soltani tomorrow, writing that “more than 10,600 Iranians have been arrested by the Islamic Republic regime simply for demanding their basic rights. Erfan Soltani, 26, whose death sentence was issued for January 14, is among them.”
It is believed that Soltani, who was detained by plain-clothed officers last Thursday, will be executed tomorrow, Somayeh, a family member of Soltani, told CNN. Soltani was not allowed a lawyer or a retrial after being sentenced to death, said Somayeh, who declined having her full name published due to security concerns.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm plans for Soltani’s execution.
His trial was rushed, Somayeh said. Rushed death sentences and sham trials are a common occurrence in Iran, experts have told CNN.
CNN is reaching out to Iranian authorities for comment.
Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad said over the weekend that legal proceedings against protesters, he called “terrorists,” will be carried out “without leniency, mercy or appeasement,” according to the semi-official news agency Tasnim
Soltani, Somayeh said, is an “incredibly kind and warm-hearted young man” who has “always fought for the freedom of Iran.”
Watch CNN’s Isobel Yeung’s interview with Somayeh:
Somayeh called on US President Donald Trump, who has encouraged those demonstrating across Iran, to come to the aid of protesters.
Rich and poor are "hungry and angry" in Tehran, resident says
Anti-regime protests in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have divided the city in recent days, a resident told CNN on Tuesday, with some people fleeing amid the deadly unrest while others race home after work to get changed before taking to the streets.
The resident, who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns, told CNN that the daytime is eerily quiet before protests resume at night.
“You’ll speak to people working in the coffee shops and they’ll say they finish their shifts at 6, then go home, change and take to the streets,” the source said.
Even though protests have become less intense since the weekend, the situation in the city remains dire, the resident said, adding that some hospitals are at capacity and cemeteries are turning people away due to overcrowding.
“The first two nights of the big protests — Thursday and Friday — were huge,” said the resident. “People of all ages came out — young people with their parents, all walks of life, all parts of the city.”
Fed up with the status quo, some people are attending the anti-government protests on their own, so they can more easily run away from authorities without fear for the safety of friends or family members, according to the resident.
“There are people who are armed with knives and other types of weapons,” the person said.
The demonstrations appear to have some level of coordination, the resident said, and “the front row/line of the protests includes organizers and leaders who are coordinating locations, start times, how to close off roads and seem to be leading some of the vandalism and violence.”
Meanwhile, other protesters are speculating whether the violence is being fueled by the Iranian regime itself, or by foreign powers, the resident added.
But most people are just fed up with the domestic situation in Iran, the resident said.
Qatari prime minister backs efforts to de-escalate in phone call with top Iranian official
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said in a statement that his country continues to back “de-escalation efforts” after a phone call with Iran’s top national security official.
Al-Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, said he spoke by phone today with the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, discussing “the latest developments in the region” among other topics.
The prime minister “reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s backing of all de-escalation efforts, as well as peaceful solutions to enhance security and stability in the region,” the statement concluded.
The statement came soon after Larijani called US President Donald Trump one of the “main killers of the people of Iran” in a post on X after Trump said that he had canceled any meetings with Iranian officials due to protester deaths.
Trump advises US citizens to leave Iran, doesn't know death toll from protests
We’re hearing more reaction from US President Donald Trump, who just said he hasn’t yet been able to get a firm grasp of how many protesters have been killed in Iran as he advised Americans who remain in the country to leave.
“I would say it’s not a bad idea to get out,” Trump said when questioned whether US citizens or citizens of US allies should leave Iran.
The president declined to expand on his earlier message that help was on the way to the protesters.
“You’re going to have to figure that one out,” he said while speaking to reporters on a Ford factory floor in Michigan where F-150 trucks are assembled.
He said the death toll of the protests in Iran was unclear.
At least 1,850 protesters have now been reported killed in more than two weeks of demonstrations, according to a US-based rights group. CNN cannot independently confirm that number.
Analysis: Iran’s crackdown on protests shows lessons learned from the summer war
Iran has made a tactical shift on how to decisively crush nationwide protests, by a regime that now views domestic dissent as an extension of the summer war with Israel.
What began as the regime’s age-old riot-control methods quickly escalated into advanced techniques to suppress protests, combining cutting-edge military technology with sophisticated psychological operations, according to experts.
Low-flying surveillance drones, signal jammers, a rapid-response propaganda apparatus, and the violent deployment of force were unleashed simultaneously by a regime keen to learn from each wave of unrest.
Read more on Tehran’s latest tactics to suppress dissent here.
After Trump cancels meetings, Iran’s national security chief calls him a "killer"
Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani called US President Donald Trump one of the “main killers of the people of Iran” in a post on X after Trump said that he had canceled any meetings with Iranian officials due to protester deaths.
Larijani also named Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the second “killer” on his list.
The Israeli military has said that it is “prepared defensively and is continuously improving its capabilities and operational readiness,” though it considers the protests an “internal Iranian matter.”
Iranian officials have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked “terrorists.”
