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U.S. Senator Tom Cotton told Fox News that Donald Trump has not forgotten what he described as the ayatollahs’ responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of Americans, warning Tehran should take the president’s threats seriously. Cotton said Trump has multiple options, but argued any course of action should maintain “maximum pressure” on Iran’s rulers while aiming to minimize casualties.
Reports say Reza Eskandarpour, a 37-year-old citizen, was killed during the January 8 protests (18 Dey) in Tehran’s Aryashahr district after being hit by six live rounds in what is described as direct fire from a rooftop sniper. The account is being cited as part of the ongoing lethal crackdown on demonstrators.
Information received by Iran International says Soheil Zilabi, a 24-year-old resident of Yazdanshahr, was killed on Friday, January 9, 2026 (19 Dey 1404) after being shot directly by security forces during protests in the city. A relative said he was struck in the head on Motahhari Boulevard, transferred the same night to Fatemeh Zahra Hospital in Yazdanshahr, and died there. The family was reportedly given only his bloodstained clothes and told to go to Bagh-e Rezvan cemetery in Isfahan to receive the body; relatives said they visited for three days, and the body was ultimately handed over five days later. The source described Soheil as kind and hardworking, recently returned from military service and employed as an auto paint-color diagnosis assistant, working long hours from early morning to late afternoon.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said he was “deeply saddened” after reading reports of the possible imminent execution of Erfan Soltani , a 26-year-old he described as facing death for peaceful protest in pursuit of a better life. Graham wrote that Soltani’s family has appealed to the world to help save him, adding he hopes and prays the execution does not go ahead. He argued that allowing such an execution while the current system remains in power would normalize intimidation and “barbarism” in the 21st century, and concluded: “This regime must fall and the Iranian people must achieve a better life,” claiming the region and the world would benefit from an end to what he called “killer ayatollah” rule.
Israel’s foreign minister welcomed Argentina’s decision to designate the IRGC’s Quds Force as a terrorist organization, arguing the unit continues to “export terror” across the Middle East and worldwide while also suppressing Iranians at home through intimidation and violence.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer said the men and women protesting across Iran are not “enemies of the world,” describing them as students, workers, and families seeking a better future. His remarks add to growing international political messaging framing the unrest as a popular demand for change rather than a security threat.
A group of Iranians in Madrid, Spain, held an anti–Islamic Republic demonstration, chanting slogans including “This is the national slogan: Reza, Reza Pahlavi,” in a show of diaspora support for Iran’s national uprising.
Political analyst Jaber Rajabi said the Islamic Republic has intensified its use of violence out of fear, arguing that growing signs of erosion and defections within repression forces are also shaping the state’s harsher behavior. He suggested the combination of insecurity and internal slippage is pushing authorities toward a more aggressive crackdown.
Iranians in Stockholm, Sweden, held a gathering on Saturday, January 17 (27 Dey) to commemorate those killed in Iran’s national uprising, lighting candles and holding a vigil in their memory. Participants also chanted slogans including “Death to the Islamic Republic” and “Regime change for Iran,” reflecting continued diaspora mobilization alongside protests inside the country.
Messages received by Iran International say authorities are preventing the release of hospital patient and injury figures amid continued security pressure on medical centers to identify and detain the wounded. One account from Isfahan on Saturday, January 17 (27 Dey) claimed officials stopped any leakage of injury statistics from Al-Zahra Hospital, while surgeons treated large numbers of patients for bullet and pellet removal, including children. The same source alleged many injured citizens underwent eye-removal surgeries, though it also said doctors in multiple facilities have been treating patients without charge. The message further claimed security forces have transferred some wounded people out of hospitals, including to IRGC-controlled medical centers, and that staff shifts and hospital operations are now under tight oversight in a de facto martial-law atmosphere.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday, January 17 (27 Dey) that “several thousand” people were killed during the latest wave of nationwide protests—one of the first official acknowledgments of the scale of fatalities—while blaming actors linked to the U.S. and Israel and accusing President Donald Trump of inciting the unrest. In the same remarks, he said the state does not intend to push Iran toward war but will not “let domestic or international criminals go,” and signaled tougher follow-through beyond what he called putting down the “sedition.”
A message from a local source says Ariana, a 23-year-old psychiatry student, was killed in Borujerd on January 8 (18 Dey) during Iran’s national uprising. Further details about the circumstances of her death have not been independently verified.