Iran-US tensions highlights: Iran warns US of ‘regret-inducing’ response; rial hits fresh low

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran’s internet shutdown is approaching its 20th day, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said on Tuesday, with access remaining heavily restricted under a government “whitelist” system.

Under this model, only approved users—typically state media and select businesses—retain access, while ordinary citizens must rely on circumvention tools to get online.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Videos received by Iran International from Mashhad and Tehran show protesters shot in the head by security forces on January 8 and 9.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: The European Union is set to impose sanctions on senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in an initial response to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on mass protests, AFP reported, citing EU diplomats.

According to the diplomats, the EU’s 27 member states are expected to approve asset freezes and visa bans on 21 individuals and entities, including high-ranking IRGC members, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday. EU ambassadors are due to sign off on the measures on Wednesday.

In addition, EU ministers are expected to agree on sanctions against 10 more individuals and entities over Iran’s supply of drones and missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, the report said.

The move comes amid growing pressure within the EU to formally designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, a push backed by Italy. The bloc has already sanctioned hundreds of Iranian officials and entities over previous protest crackdowns and Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran's exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi welcomed Italy’s move to press the EU to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

“I welcome the Italian government’s position on proscribing the IRGC and thank Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani for advancing this in Brussels,” Pahlavi wrote on X.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran's currency, the rial, fell to a record low of 1.5 million to USD 1 amid the protests that started last month over economic woes. the stir soon turned into a geopolitical flashpoint with US threatening action against Iran as it cracks down on protesters.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Amid the growing tensions in the Middle-East, two Iranian-backed militias have hinted at their willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to back Iran, amid reports of the arrival of a US aircraft carrier to the region Monday, AP reported. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday signalled they were ready to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea after Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group, long supported by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, issued a direct threat on Sunday toward any attack targeting Iran, warning a “total war” in the region would be a result.

Via AP

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Over 6,000 people have been killed in the brutal crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran that have been going on for a month now, AP reported quoting activists. In the backdrop of the crackdown, a US aircraft carrier group arrived in the Middle East to lead any American military response to the crisis, while Iran's currency, the rial, fell to a record low of 1.5 million to $1.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Families of those killed in the Islamic Republic’s crackdown are transforming funerals into celebrations of life, honoring the dead as freedom fighters in a defiant rejection of the regime’s culture of mourning and fear, according to Iran International.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said after talks with his Chinese counterpart that events in Venezuela and Iran require the Russian and Chinese defence ministries to constantly analyze the security situation and act accordingly, Russian state media reported.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran summoned Italy’s ambassador to the foreign ministry after what it termed as "irresponsible remarks by Italy’s foreign minister" about Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Iranian state-linked media reported.

This came as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would seek to persuade other EU members to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

The foreign ministry’s director general for western Europe warned of what he described as damaging consequences of labeling the Revolutionary Guards and urged Italy to revise its remarks, the reports said.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Garnett Genuis, a member of Canada’s parliament, asked his country to step up its support for Iranian protesters. He also praised the fight of Iranian fighters.

He compared Iran's government to a “cornered rat,” adding, “They will commit any crime in order to try to survive.”

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iranian authorities have detained several members of the country’s Jewish community, in what sources cited by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said was a pretext related to recent protests.

According to the sources, those detained were not involved in the demonstrations.

No details were provided on the number of people held or their identities.

An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Jews live in Iran, making it home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday called for the dismantling of Iran’s regional allies, saying their presence undermines stability in the Middle East.

Speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan alongside Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev, Saar described Iran-aligned groups as a major obstacle to peace in the region.

“Iran’s proxy terror states in the Middle East — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen — must be dismantled,” Saar said, adding that lasting regional stability would not be possible unless these groups were eliminated.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Germany’s federal interior ministry has warned that Iranians living in exile in the country face the risk of intimidation and harassment by Iranian state actors, including potential cyber attacks.

Responding to a written question from Green lawmaker Marcel Emmerich, the ministry said it regularly receives reports of what it described as transnational repression, efforts by states to monitor, threaten or pressure political opponents abroad.

The ministry said German authorities take any activities by foreign state bodies or their proxies on German soil very seriously and do not tolerate them, stressing that this is particularly important when refugees may be at risk.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Canada’s Conservative Party deputy leader, Melissa Lantsman, called out the country's “performative foreign policy” toward protests in Iran.

She praised Iranians for their bravery in the face of what she termed as “brtual dictatorship”.

“If you can’t call evil evil, and if you can’t say the regime is murdering its own people while extinguishing their human rights for the past almost 50 years, then I think we have a very, very big problem,” she said.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iranian state media quoted officials as saying "loud noises" were heard near military center in Pakdasht, southeast of Tehran. It was caused by routine activity and testing and not a blast.

It further revealed that follow-up checks lead to standard measures and tests carried out at the facility, the Mehr news agency reported.

Reports about a blast were not accurate, it added.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran’s government said on Monday that decisions to restrict or cut internet access are taken by security authorities, as a nationwide blackout stretched into its third week.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told a news conference that following events on January 8 and 9, security policymakers determined that the national internet network “had to be cut,” and that the government did not have the authority to reverse such decisions.

“Our approach is to support free internet,” Mohajerani said. “But on security issues, we are all subject to these decisions.”

The internet shutdown entered its 19th day on Monday.

Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said authorities were tightening filtering measures to curb circumvention tools, while still allowing approved accounts to operate in order to promote the Islamic Republic’s narrative.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: An Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group has signalled its readiness to carry out suicide attacks, as regional tensions linked to Iran escalate.

Images circulating on social media showed members of Kataib Hezbollah wearing white burial shrouds while signing what were described as volunteer forms for suicide operations.

The group said the move was part of preparations for a broader conflict in defence of the Islamic Republic.

The images emerged after Kataib Hezbollah issued a statement earlier this week urging its fighters and supporters to prepare for what it called a “comprehensive war” in response to threats against Iran.

Kataib Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, is a powerful faction within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces and has previously carried out attacks on US and allied targets in the region.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iranians in Cyprus gathered outside the French embassy on Monday. They held Iran’s Lion and Sun flag and pictures of exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, and were seen “democracy for Iran” and “freedom for Iran.”

Iran-US tensions LIVE: A senior Iranian military official said on Monday local time reportedly that the US would be unable to carry out any surprise or decisive strike against Iran, as US aircraft carriers, warships and fighter jets arrive in the region.

“The notion of carrying out a so-called limited, rapid and clean operation against Iran stems from incorrect assessments and an incomplete understanding of the defensive and offensive capabilities of the Islamic Republic,” the unnamed official said, as reported by Iran International citing Mehr News Agency.

“Any scenario designed on the basis of surprise or controlling the scope of conflict will slip out of the control of its planners at the very early stages,” the official added.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: US President Donald Trump said the United States has “a big armada next to Iran” but claimed that Tehran is seeking talks with Washington. “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions,” Trump told Axios in an interview on Monday.

Separately, a senior US official said Washington remains open to engagement if Iran reaches out. “We are open for business” if the Iranians “want to contact us,” the official told reporters during a call, AFP reported.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran’s currency slid to a new record low on Tuesday, with the rial trading above 1.48 million to the US dollar on the unofficial market, according to traders, cited by Iran International.

The latest fall comes after sharp swings since late December, when the currency’s weakening helped spark protests in Tehran and several other cities, adding to pressure on the Iranian economy amid heightened political and regional tensions.

Iran-US tensions LIVE: Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani reportedly told a UN Security Council meeting late Monday that US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to use military force against Iran “are neither ambiguous nor misinterpreted.”

Iravani also repeated allegations that Trump had incited violence by “armed terrorist groups” allegedly supported by the United States and Israel, though he did not provide evidence to back the claims, AP reported.