{"id":9099,"date":"2026-01-11T22:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/11\/as-death-toll-climbs-in-iran-trump-weighs-potential-response-official-says-ms-now\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T22:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:26:31","slug":"as-death-toll-climbs-in-iran-trump-weighs-potential-response-official-says-ms-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/11\/as-death-toll-climbs-in-iran-trump-weighs-potential-response-official-says-ms-now\/","title":{"rendered":"As death toll climbs in Iran, Trump weighs potential response, official says – MS NOW"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Massive anti-government protests in Iran have turned deadly, with human rights groups reporting Sunday that hundreds of people have been killed.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Activists News Agency reported<\/a> that more than 500 people have died and more than 2,600 people \u2013 including women and children \u2013 have been arrested in the protests. <\/p>\n

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HRANA and the U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said that an exact count is difficult due to communication restrictions. MS NOW has not independently verified the death toll and number of arrests.<\/p>\n

The country is in a widespread internet blackout as demonstrations continue into a second week in major cities, including Mashhad in the northeast and the capital city of Tehran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The unrest has been fueled by Iran\u2019s deepening economic crisis and anger toward the country\u2019s authoritarian leadership. After the rial, Iran\u2019s national currency, fell to a record low in December, shopkeepers in Tehran took to the streets in protest.\u00a0Sanctions<\/a>\u00a0on Iran\u2019s oil sector have further strained an\u00a0already struggling economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump is weighing potential responses to the demonstrations in Iran to protect the protesters, a senior White House official told MS NOW on Sunday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Trump has said he would consider intervention in the country. In a Truth Social post Saturday, he said, \u201cIran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

In June the U.S. struck three of Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, which Trump said was done to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Tehran has warned that the U.S. military, as well as Israel, would be \u201clegitimate targets\u201d if it intervenes with force to protect protesters. <\/p>\n

Parlimentary Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday that \u201cin the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets.\u201d <\/p>\n

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned the demonstrations, likening protesters to \u201cmercenaries from foreign powers\u201d such as the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President of the United States declared that if the Iranian government did this or that, he would side with the rioters,\u201d Khamenei said on X<\/a> on Sunday. \u201cThe rioters have placed their hopes in him. If he is so competent, let him manage his own country then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for \u201cunity,\u201d saying in a state interview Sunday that \u201cif people have concerns, it\u2019s our responsibility to listen and solve them.\u201d Pezeshkian drew a distinction between protesters and \u201crioters and terrorists,\u201d who he said \u201ccome and cause chaos for the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protests are the largest since the demonstrations against the regime in 2022 and 2023, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini<\/a>, who was arrested by the morality police for violating the dress code law.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\tErum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\tAkayla Gardner is a White House correspondent for MS NOW.\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jan. 11, 2026, 3:26 PM EST Massive anti-government protests in Iran have turned deadly, with human rights groups reporting Sunday that hundreds of people have been killed. Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that more than 500 people have died and more than 2,600 people \u2013 including women and children \u2013 have been arrested in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}