{"id":9108,"date":"2026-01-11T22:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/11\/what-to-know-about-iran-protests-as-trump-warns-the-countrys-leaders-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T22:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:26:25","slug":"what-to-know-about-iran-protests-as-trump-warns-the-countrys-leaders-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/01\/11\/what-to-know-about-iran-protests-as-trump-warns-the-countrys-leaders-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about Iran protests as Trump warns the country’s leaders – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated Jan. 11, 2026, 3:10 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

\n

Anti-government demonstrations in Iran have entered their third week as human rights organizations sound the alarm over increasing deaths in a violent crackdown from authorities.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> has threatened to intervene, drawing a defiant response from the Iranian regime’s top leaders and further ratcheting up tension between the United States and the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n

Iranian leaders have accused America and Israel of fomenting the demonstrations, which began in late December over soaring prices and the abrupt collapse of Iran\u2019s national currency.<\/p>\n

Several leading human rights and watchdog organizations in recent days condemned growing violence against demonstrators by government forces. The United Nations’ independent fact-finding mission in Iran said in a Jan. 10 statement<\/a> it received reports that security forces were ordered to carry out a \u201cdecisive\u201d response without restraint on the anti-government protesters.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. officials have held preliminary conversations with Trump about taking military action against the Iranian regime, according to multiple<\/a> media reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know about the ongoing protests.<\/p>\n

Why are Iranians protesting?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Iranians took to the streets in late December as their currency, the rial, suddenly crashed, and inflation reached over 40%. The economic pressure has reignited many longstanding grievances with the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment, marking the most expansive civil unrest in the country in several years.<\/p>\n

Demonstrations have reached their peak so far over the weekend, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency<\/a>. On Jan. 10, protests were held in 96 cities across 27 provinces. Shortly before midnight Tehran time on Jan. 11, the group tracked protests in 186 cities across all of the nation’s 31 provinces.<\/p>\n

\"Burning<\/figure>\n

In some videos of the demonstrations, protesters can be heard<\/a> calling for the overthrow of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the return of the exiled son of Iran’s last king, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Iran’s last shah, as he is known, was overthrown by Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. His son and heir, also\u00a0Reza Pahlavi<\/a>, lives in Virginia.<\/p>\n

The protests and violent response are reminiscent of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that rocked the country in 2022 and 2023, ignited by the\u00a0death of Mahsa Amini<\/a>. The 22-year-old woman died while in police custody after being detained for allegedly violating dress codes.<\/p>\n

How many injuries and fatalities have been recorded?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights<\/a> said on Jan. 11 it has confirmed at least 192 protesters have been killed since the start of the demonstrations. The group says unverified reports place the toll in the hundreds to low-thousands, and ongoing internet restrictions make verification methods challenging.<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Activists News Agency<\/a>‘s latest death toll estimates surpassed 580 people as of Jan. 11, and more than 10,600 people detained by authorities.<\/p>\n

Iran has not provided any official figures. A government-imposed internet blackout<\/a> has cut off much communication with those inside the country since Jan. 8, impeding the flow of information.<\/p>\n

\"Iran's<\/figure>\n

How has Trump responded?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Trump has repeatedly warned Iran’s leaders against killing protesters and has in recent weeks ramped up his threats.<\/p>\n

Trump\u00a0said on Jan. 2<\/a>\u00a0that the United States would come to the rescue \u201cif Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom.\u201d A week later on Jan. 9, Trump warned Tehran in comments to reporters, \u201cYou better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most recently on Jan. 10, the president said on social media: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”<\/p>\n

\"President<\/figure>\n

What do Iranian leaders say?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

In his first major address to the nation since the demonstrations erupted, Iran’s supreme leader on Jan. 9 said Trump should focus on problems in his own country, without elaborating. Khamenei also accused Iran’s protesters of “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy.”<\/p>\n

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation” in an interview the following day.<\/p>\n

“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on\u00a0Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” Qalibaf said, according to Reuters reports.<\/p>\n

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY; Reuters.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at<\/em>kapalmer@usatoday.com<\/em><\/a> and on X @<\/em>KathrynPlmr<\/em><\/a>. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated Jan. 11, 2026, 3:10 p.m. ET Anti-government demonstrations in Iran have entered their third week as human rights organizations sound the alarm over increasing deaths in a violent crackdown from authorities. President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene, drawing a defiant response from the Iranian regime’s top leaders and further ratcheting up tension between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9108","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=9108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}