US-Iran tensions updates: Oman to host peace talks in Geneva next week

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US agencies are struggling to find the best method to fund additional software for millions of Iranian civilians to get around their government’s strict internet censors, amid a surge in demand over weeks of domestic unrest.

The State Department, US senators from both parties, and other US agencies have advocated for funding virtual private networks and anti-censorship technology programs that would allow about a quarter of the people in Iran to access the internet without the Islamic Regime’s restrictions.

But the offices involved can’t seem to agree on the best way to get $10 million to the Open Technology Fund, which finances programs to circumvent online censorship worldwide and has seen demand for VPNs in Iran rise to 25 million from the 7.5 million that it’s resourced to support.

Without a resolution, some Iranians may not be able to access the internet safely in the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed at a White House meeting on Wednesday that the US would work to reduce Iran's oil exports to China, Axios reported, citing two US officials briefed on the issue.

"We agreed that we will go full force with maximum pressure against Iran, for example, regarding Iranian oil sales to China," Axios reported on Saturday, quoting a senior US official.

China accounts for more than 80% of Iran's oil exports. Any reduction in that trade would mean lower oil revenue for Iran.

The indirect talks on February 6 were between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The top military commander in the Middle East was also present for the first time.

The Trump administration has maintained that Iran can have no uranium enrichment under any deal. Tehran says it won’t agree to that.

Munich police said that some 250,000 pro-monarchist opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran's leadership travelled from across Europe to take part in the demonstration held while world leaders met nearby at the Munich Security Conference.

Iranian authorities have, without prior warning, transferred Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to a prison in the north of the country, as concern grows over her health, her family said on Saturday.

Mohammadi, who won the peace prize in 2023 in recognition for more than two decades of campaigning, was arrested on December 12 in the eastern city of Mashhad after speaking out against Iran's clerical authorities at a funeral ceremony.

She spent time on a hunger strike earlier this month and had been hospitalised before being returned to prison.

Exiled ex-Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi warned of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch" following Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters last month.

“We gather at an hour of profound peril to ask: Will the world stand with the people of Iran?” he asked.

He added that the survival of Iran's government “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power.”

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada wants a change of government in Iran but would not say whether it would support a US military strike, Reuters reported.

“We will not open diplomatic relationships with Iran unless there is a regime change. Period,” Anand said.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Switzerland on Saturday said that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, wih Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme, AFP reported.

“Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran,” a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP. The spokesman did not give the day of the talks.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The son of Iran's toppled former monarch told a mass rally in Munich on Saturday he is ready to lead Iran's "transition", as demonstrators demanded the overthrow of Iran's rulers, AFP reported.

"I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box," he said.

Supporters of Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi rallied on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders in Germany on Saturday, aiming to crank up international pressure on Tehran, Associated Press reported.

Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the large and boisterous demonstration in Munich was part of what Pahlavi described as a “global day of action" to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The crowd of demonstrators in Munich denouncing the Iranian government grew to an estimated 200,000 people Saturday, police told AFP, as world leaders gathered nearby at the Munich Security Conference.

The protesters rallied in Munich's Theresienwiese area, condemning the leadership of Iran's Islamic Republic following the deadly repression of nationwide protests in January.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: US agencies are struggling to find the best method to fund additional software for millions of Iranian civilians to get around their government’s strict internet censors, amid a surge in demand over weeks of domestic unrest, Bloomberg reported.

The State Department, US senators from both parties, have advocated for funding virtual private networks and anti-censorship technology programs that would allow Iran to access the internet.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Ukrainian officials have reaffirmed their support for the Iranian people following Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting in Munich with exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, ANI reported.

"Ukraine supports the Iranian people as they are fighting for their future; we also express our sympathy to all the victims of the Iranian regime," Ukraine said in a statement.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the decision of Donald Trump to send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East was a bid to make sure Iran doesn’t “come after us and trigger something larger beyond that,” declining to say if the US was running out of patience with the regime.

He said Trump’s preference was for a deal with Iran, and also left the door open to Trump meeting Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi on Saturday said US military intervention in Iran could save lives and urged President Donald Trump's administration not to spend too long negotiating with Tehran.

The exiled son of Iran's toppled shah told Reuters in an interview that there were signs that the Iranian government was on the brink of collapse and that an attack could weaken it or accelerate its fall.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: About 80,000 people joined a demonstration against the Iranian government in the German city of Munich on Saturday, AFP reported.

The protesters rallied in Munich's Theresienwiese area, denouncing the leadership of Iran's Islamic Republic following the deadly repression of nationwide protests in January.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday criticised the United Nations for failing to address pressing global conflicts, citing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Referring to the 12-day conflict with Iran in June 2026, he said the UN was “powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics of Tehran.” "That required 14 bombs dropped with precision by American B-2 bombers," ANI quoted Rubio as saying.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The exiled Reza Pahalvi called on US President Donald Trump on Saturday to help the Iranian people, a day after the American leader said a change of power would be the "best thing".

Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution, added it was "time to end the Islamic republic" while speaking to reporters at the Munich Security Conference, AFP reported.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The exiled son of Iran's last shah Reza Pahlavi met Ukraine's President Zelensky and said, “I was very pleased with today’s meeting with President Zelenskyy in Munich. We represent two nations that are fighting against threats to their freedom and national sovereignty. The threat to Ukraine is external, while the threat to Iran is internal. Our two nations are bound together by this very reality and also by the extraordinary courage of their people.”

“In this meeting, we discussed mutual support for efforts to liberate our countries, as well as the fruitful cooperation we can develop on the path of the struggle for freedom. I look forward to continuing my cooperation with President Zelenskyy and sincerely thank him for his support of the Iranian nation,” he added.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Supporters of Iran ’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi were looking Saturday to world leaders gathered in Munich, Germany, to ratchet up pressure for change on the Iranian government.

Pahlavi called for demonstrations in Munich, Los Angeles and Toronto on what he described as a “global day of action,” urging supporters to take to streets to push for "urgent, practical steps in support of the Iranian people.”

Iranian leaders are already under intense scrutiny, facing renewed threats of U.S. military action from President Donald Trump. Trump wants Iran to further scale back its nuclear program. He suggested Friday that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen." (AP)

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Canada has announced that it is imposing additional sanctions against seven individuals under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations (Iran regulations).

“Canada will continue to respond decisively to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (Iran) efforts to use repression and violence beyond its borders as well as against its own people. Alongside its like-minded partners, Canada is implementing these sanctions to address Iran’s use of transnational repression, violence and repressive tactics,” the government said in a statement.

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: Ukrainian officials have reaffirmed their support for the Iranian people following Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting in Munich with exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, underscoring shared concerns about authoritarian regimes and regional security threats.

The meeting, held on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference 2026 in the German city, focused on the political situation in Iran, the needs of the Iranian people, and the broader implications of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. According to a statement released after the talks, Ukraine emphasized its solidarity with citizens of Iran who are advocating for democratic change and greater freedoms. (ANI)

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The Guardian reported that the Trump administration has ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, among the most advanced aircraft carriers, to join the already deployed strike group in the Middle East.

In an interview with Axios on Tuesday, Trump stated that he was "thinking" about sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East, but he also stated that he thought Tehran was open to reaching a nuclear agreement at that time.

However, it has "been difficult to make a deal" with Iran, Trump said on Friday while addressing American troops at a North Carolina base. “Sometimes you have to have fear. That's the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of,” he said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to attack back at any American military installation if strikes are launched on Iranian land.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly spoke regarding the preparations for a possible long-term U.S. military action. She said, “President Trump has all options on the table with regard to Iran.”

US-Iran tensions LIVE updates: The Iranian government said on Friday that it has set up an enquiry panel to examine protests over rising living costs that later turned into anti-government demonstrations in which thousands were killed.

"A fact-finding committee has been formed with representatives from relevant institutions and is collecting documents and hearing statements," Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told the local news agency ISNA.