https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...734408&lctg=26773771

Iran Death Toll Tops 12,000 As Security Forces Begin to Slaughter Non-Protesting Civilians

Iranian security forces have begun killing civilians not even involved in the country’s mass protests, according to witness accounts, as the country's officially reported death toll surpassed 2,000 on Tuesday.

However, even that number has been eclipsed, according to the Editorial Board of Iran International, which says the death toll has risen to over 12,000, with the vast majority of those taking place last Thursday and Friday.

According to the Editorial Board of Iran International, at least 12,000 people have been killed so far by security forces in ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Iran, calling it the “largest massacre in contemporary Iranian history,” occurring primarily over two consecutive nights, last Thursday and Friday, January 8 and 9.

Iran International stated that the statistics are based on information received from one source close to the Supreme National Security Council, two sources in the Office of the President, accounts received from several sources in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the cities of Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Isfahan, eyewitness accounts and families of the deceased, field reports, data related to medical centers, and information obtained by doctors and nurses in various cities across Iran.

cont...

Time to send in the Mossad, Delta and CIA.

It amazes me that the powers-that-be in Iran are killing civilians at such a high rate. While they won't run out of victims, they will come close to running out of people to do the required slave labor---which I think would start to break down their infrastructure and collapse what economy they still have.

Maybe it's hard to predict the immediate future of this situation, because maybe it's not really possible. Any people who CAN realistically evaluate to make predictions of this or that scenario, aren't talking. Or maybe the good guys in the world are so sick of Iran's antics they just don't care. This mess is light years over my pay grade.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Some times since the end of WWII groups in various countries have been encouraged to revolt against their oppressive masters (e.g., the Hungarian revolution) in the belief that the US, or at least the West would step in to support them. Usually, however, that help has not been forthcoming or, as in the case of the Republic of Vietnam, support was withdrawn and not renewed as promised. Sometimes, unlike this time, there were no overt statements of support, but the belief was still there for various reasons. Whether promised or not, the results have not been good for those who thought help was coming.

I don't doubt President Trump will do something, but I did think he'd do it before now.

https://www.newsmax.com/politi...dkt_nbr=010504zexm5m

Trump Warns of 'Very Strong Action' If Iran Hangs Protesters

President Donald Trump warned Tuesday of unspecified "very strong action" against Iran if its authorities go ahead with the threatened hanging of some protesters, as international outrage grew over a crackdown that one rights group said has likely killed thousands.

Iranian authorities insisted they had regained control of the country after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday, which have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Rights groups accuse the government of fatally shooting protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now surpassed the five-day mark.

Trump -- who earlier told the protesters in Iran that "help is on its way" -- told CBS News that the United States would act if Iran began hanging protesters, after Tehran prosecutors said Iranian authorities would press capital charges of "moharebeh", or "waging war against God", against some suspects arrested over recent demonstrations.

"We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," said the American leader, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention.

"When they start killing thousands of people -- and now you're telling me about hanging. We'll see how that's going to work out for them," Trump said.

New videos on social media, whose location AFP verified, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue just south of the Iranian capital, with the corpses wrapped in black bags and distraught relatives searching for loved ones.

International phone links were restored on Tuesday, but only for outgoing calls, according to an AFP journalist, and the quality remained spotty, with frequent interruptions.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform urge Iranians to "KEEP PROTESTING", adding: "I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY."

It was not immediately clear what meetings he was referring to or what the nature of the help would be.

- 'In the thousands' -

Europan nations also signaled their anger over the crackdown, with France, Germany and the United Kingdom among the countries that summoned their Iranian ambassadors, as did the European Union.

"The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying," said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, vowing further sanctions against those responsible.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 734 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely far higher.

"The figures we publish are based on information received from fewer than half of the country's provinces and fewer than 10 percent of Iran's hospitals. The real number of those killed is likely in the thousands," IHR's director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.

IHR highlighted the case of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested last week in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and who, according to a family source, has already been sentenced to death and is due to be executed as early as Wednesday.

Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning for those killed.

Authorities in Tehran have announced a mass funeral ceremony in the capital on Wednesday for the "martyrs" of recent days.

Amir, an Iraqi computer scientist, returned to Baghdad on Monday and described dramatic scenes in Tehran.

"On Thursday night, my friends and I saw protesters in Tehran's Sarsabz neighbourhood amid a heavy military presence. The police were firing rubber bullets," he told AFP in Iraq.

- 'Last days' -

The government on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated, calling them a "warning" to the United States.

In power since 1989 and now age 86, Khamenei has faced significant challenges, most recently the 12-day war in June against Israel, which resulted in the killing of top security officials and forced him to go into hiding.

"When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a trip to India. "I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime."

Analysts, however, have cautioned that it is premature to predict the immediate demise of the theocratic system, pointing to the repressive levers the leadership controls, including the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is charged with safeguarding the Islamic revolution.

"These protests arguably represent the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years, both in scale and in their increasingly explicit political demands," Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP.

She said it was unclear if the protests would unseat the leadership, pointing to "the sheer depth and resilience of Iran's repressive apparatus".

Cyberattacks on these banks, followed by coordinated air strikes against IRGC by Israel and the United States might finish the job.

https://x.com/MOSSADil/status/2011346071033704640

In the next 72 hours, I predict the US military is going to bomb the Iranian military as retribution for killing thousands of protestors. The air space around Iran is nearly clear and at 8 PM EST the Pentagon Pizza Index was at Defcon 2 (i.e. Pentagon planners are working late and ordering an inordinate amount of pizza).

Good lord, I was going to pretend to post something sensible, but that just killed it for me. A little comic relief is welcome.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
Good lord, I was going to pretend to post something sensible, but that just killed it for me. A little comic relief is welcome.

The Pentagon's pizza ordering habits have historically been a relatively accurate predictor. For example, earlier this month it spiked the days leading up to extracting Venezuela's Maduro and June '25 it spiked before we bombed Iran's nuclear program.

My hope is a JDAMS lands right on the Ayatollahs ass. And liberally sprinkle a few on the IRG Council too.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...734408&lctg=26773771

Trump Is About to Cross Iran's Red Line – the Regime Should Be Terrified

The Trump administration is sending major firepower to the Middle East amid the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protests that began in late December.

Iran’s government has resorted to bloody attacks against protesters. Estimates suggest that between 2,000 up to 15,000 protesters have been killed in the regime’s crackdown. President Donald Trump threatened military intervention against Iran’s government on multiple occasions if it continues killing its citizens.

Multiple regional reports revealed that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and dozens of fighter jets are racing to the Middle East.

The carrier could be close to arriving at its destination in the Persian Gulf. The move is seen as an indication that the U.S. is poised to carry out airstrikes against the Iranian regime to aid the protesters.

Israeli media is framing the Lincoln’s arrival as a critical inflection point in the tensions between Washington and Tehran. “As the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln makes its way toward the Persian Gulf, the decisive moment between the US and Iran draws closer,” according to Israel Hayom.

The news outlet noted that the U.S. will soon have the capacity for anything from “targeting Iranian oil tankers that guarantee crude supplies to China” to “direct strikes on targets inside Iran itself.”

Former U.S. ambassador Dan Shapiro said Trump’s “one-and-done” strike idea could “lead him to specifically target Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”

The Iranian regime is facing intense pressure from the international community and the protesters in the street, who have not faltered even in the face of shootings and arrests.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any move against Khamenei “would be considered a declaration of all-out war against the Iranian nation” and that Iran’s response “would be severe and deeply regrettable.”

Trump has referred to Khamenei as “a sick man” and declared that “it’s time for new leadership in Iran.”

quote:

posted January 21, 2026 03:37 PM Hide Post
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...734408&lctg=26773771

Iran’s government has resorted to bloody attacks against protesters. Estimates suggest that between 2,000 up to 15,000 protesters have been killed in the regime’s crackdown. President Donald Trump threatened military intervention against Iran’s government on multiple occasions if it continues killing its citizens.

2,000-15,000?
That’s a rather LARGE discrepancy in numbers.
One would think the difference wouldn’t be that large. Leads one to believe that either there’s really bad intelligence or inflammatory numbers to sway opinions.

Either way, the Iranian people (at least the ones who want change) are in for a rough time.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Time to send in the Mossad, Delta and CIA.

Green Berrets.
A few ODA teams to train some locals, start an insurgency.

Trump Says ‘Big Force’ of US Naval Ships Headed Toward Iran

The number of confirmed fatalities in Iran since protests began on Dec. 28 has reached nearly 5,000, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Trump Says ‘Big Force’ of US Naval Ships Headed Toward Iran

President Donald Trump said on Jan. 22 that the U.S. Navy has sent a large flotilla toward Iran as the Islamic regime continues to be engulfed in its largest wave of protests since the 1979 revolution.

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said the United States has deployed its Navy in the direction of Iran, “just in case,” as he has repeatedly warned the Iranian regime not to execute protesters or face the wrath of the U.S. military.

“We‘ll see what happens. We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely,” Trump said.

While Trump didn’t provide details on the deployment, ship spotters and satellite imagery have identified that the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) entered the Malacca Strait earlier this week en route to the Indian Ocean.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in Iran with the U.S. military if Tehran continues killing protesters in large waves, although he has said he is hoping to avoid a direct military conflict with the Iranian regime.

The number of confirmed fatalities in Iran since protests began on Dec. 28 has reached nearly 5,000, the organization Human Rights Activists in
Iran Says Executions May Proceed, Warns Any Attack on Leader Signals ‘All-Out War’
The civil rights group is still reviewing more than 9,000 death cases and said at least 7,398 people have sustained severe injuries during the protests.

The Iranian regime has also arrested more than 26,000 people, the group said on Wednesday.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he warned the Iranian regime that if it went forward with executing more than 800 protesters as previously planned, he would strike the country “harder than you’ve ever been hit.”

“It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts. An hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled it. And they actually said they canceled it. They didn’t postpone it. They canceled it. So, that was a good sign,” Trump said. “But we have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it.”
Iran’s Nuclear Program
Last year, ahead of the Trump administration’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the U.S. military staged a major buildup in the waters around the Islamic nation.
Trump told CNBC on Wednesday that Iran cannot pursue a nuclear program or it will risk facing additional U.S. military strikes like the ones it received last year.
“If they do it, it’s going to happen again,” Trump said. “They have got to stop with the nuclear. ... Can’t let them have it.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, last verified Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium roughly seven months ago. The organization recommends monthly updates.

The group said Iran must file a report on the status of its nuclear sites after the U.S. strikes last year, including how much of its 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity that is estimated to remain. This is close to roughly 90 percent weapons-grade purity, and if enriched further, could result in 10 nuclear warheads, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on any nation trading with Iran, effective immediately.
Less than a week later, the Iranian regime warned that “any aggression” against its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would amount to waging “all-out war” against Tehran.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...ws&test_user_group=b

https://www.newsmax.com/world/...dkt_nbr=010502h26ncf

Report Puts Iran Protest Deaths at 30,000 in 2 Days

A report by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, citing Time magazine and purported Iranian hospital data, said as many as 30,000 people may have been killed in Iran during a two-day crackdown on protests.

That figure sharply exceeds Iran's official death toll.

Time reported Sunday that two senior Iranian Health Ministry officials told the magazine as many as 30,000 people may have been killed nationwide during the Jan. 8-9 crackdown.

And a separate compilation of hospital data shared with Time listed 30,304 deaths as of Friday, Jan. 9.

Time reported that the figures could not be independently verified.

Officials said the scale of killing overwhelmed local capacity to handle the dead, exhausting body-bag supplies and prompting the use of semitrailer trucks to move bodies.

The report said security forces used rooftop snipers and trucks mounted with heavy machine guns after authorities cut communications, and it cited an alleged warning on Iranian state television that anyone "entering the streets" should not complain if a bullet hit them.

Time attributed the hospital-based compilation to Dr. Amir Parasta, described as a German-Iranian ophthalmologist, who told the magazine, "We are getting closer to reality," while adding that the tally likely excluded cases from military hospitals and areas that could not be reached.

Public health specialists cautioned against overextrapolating from hospital records but viewed the internal figures as pointing to mass killing over a short period.

Iran has publicly acknowledged a far lower death toll.

Iranian state media reported Jan. 21 that 3,117 people were killed during the unrest, citing a statement carried by Press TV and attributed to the Martyrs Foundation.

Independent counts and estimates also vary widely.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, known as HRANA, said in a report posted Sunday that it had confirmed 5,459 deaths and was investigating 17,031 additional cases.

Iran International, a London-based outlet, previously reported at least 12,000 killed during the Jan. 8-9 crackdown, and on Sunday published a separate report asserting more than 36,500 killed, citing documents it said its editorial board reviewed.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has also, in recent days, moved to expand international scrutiny.

In a media advisory dated Friday, the U.N. human rights office said the council extended the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran for two years and requested an urgent investigation into alleged serious violations linked to protests that it said began Dec. 28, 2025.

Time noted that if the internal estimates are accurate, the killings would be among the deadliest mass shootings in a comparable time span in modern records, drawing a comparison to the Babyn Yar massacre in Nazi-occupied Ukraine, where the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says 33,771 Jews were murdered over two days, Sept. 29-30, 1941.

https://www.newsmax.com/world/...dkt_nbr=010504yu0gop

Trump Says Iran Wants Talks as US Aircraft Carrier Deploys

A U.S. naval strike force led by an aircraft carrier was in Middle Eastern waters Tuesday as Iran vowed to hit back against any strike and President Donald Trump said he believed the Islamic republic still wanted talks.

Washington has not ruled out new military intervention against Tehran over its crackdown on protests, which according to rights groups saw thousands of people killed within days.

A strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln has now arrived in Middle Eastern waters, US Central Command said, without revealing its precise location.

Since Iran earlier this month launched the crackdown on protests accompanied by a blanket internet blackout, Trump has given mixed signals on intervention which some opponents of the clerical leadership see as the only way to bring about change.

"We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela," Trump told the Axios, weeks after U.S. military action resulted in the capture of the Latin American nation's president Nicolas Maduro.

But he added: "They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk."

Axios said Trump declined to discuss the options presented to him by his national security team, or which one he prefers.

Analysts say options include strikes on military facilities or targeted hits against the leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a full-scale bid to bring down the system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that Trump has received multiple U.S. intelligence reports "indicating that the Iranian government's position is weakening" and signalling its hold on power "is at its weakest point" since the shah's fall.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the paper he had spoken with Trump in recent days about Iran and that "the goal is to end the regime."

"They may stop killing them today, but if they're in charge next month, they'll kill them then," he added.

Iranian officials have over the past days appeared wary of pouring oil on the fire.

Tehran has in the past said a channel of communication is open between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, despite the lack of diplomatic relations between the two foes.

But the Hamshahri conservative newspaper Tuesday quoted Revolutionary Guards spokesman Mohammad Ali Naini as saying that "if their aircraft carrier made a mistake and entered Iranian territorial waters, it would be targeted."

The conservative Javan newspaper said Iran was "ready for a major response" and would seize the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key transit hub for energy supplies.

Meanwhile, an anti-U.S. billboard has appeared in Tehran that appears to show an American aircraft carrier being destroyed.

Rights groups have described the crackdown as the deadliest ever against protests in Iran and warn compiling tolls has been complicated by an almost three-week internet blackout they say is aimed at masking the extent of the repression.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed 6,126 people had been killed, including 5,777 protesters, 86 minors, 214 members of the security forces and 49 bystanders.

But the group, which has an extensive network of sources inside Iran and has tracked the protests on a daily basis since they began, added it was still investigating another 17,091 possible fatalities.

At least 41,880 people have been arrested, it said.

"Security agencies continue to pursue an approach centred on mass arrests, intimidation, and control of the narrative," HRANA said.

Activists have accused authorities of raiding hospitals to find injured protesters and then arresting them. The health ministry has said all people should present themselves at hospital without worry and not treat themselves at home.

Over the weekend, Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside Iran, said more than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces between January 8 and 9, citing reports, documents and sources.

It was not immediately possible to verify the report.

^^ Boy, she sure is getting her steps in!