Jan. 9: After initially believing Iran protests weren’t threatening regime, US reportedly reassessing

Iran tells UN: US to blame for ‘violent’ protests

The United States is to blame for “the transformation of peaceful protests into violent, subversive acts and widespread vandalism” in Iran, the country’s United Nations ambassador tells the Security Council.

Iran condemns “the ongoing, unlawful, and irresponsible conduct of the United States of America, in coordination with the Israeli regime, in interfering in Iran’s internal affairs through threats, incitement, and the deliberate encouragement of instability and violence,” Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani writes in a letter, seen by Reuters.

He accuses Washington of “destabilizing practices” that undermine the founding UN Charter, violate fundamental principles of international law, and threaten the foundations of international peace and security.

Case against PM’s chief of staff said to strengthen, with AG to decide whether to order police probe

Channel 12 reports that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is slated to decide in the coming days whether to order a criminal investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, for alleged obstruction of justness.

Baharav-Miara ordered the police last month to examine whether a probe should be opened into Braverman after Netanyahu’s former spokesperson Eli Feldstein revealed in an interview that the chief of staff told him that he (Braverman) could quash an investigation into the premier’s office over the leak of classified intelligence during the Gaza war.

Feldstein said Braverman asked to meet him late at night in an underground parking lot, where he informed the former spokesman that the IDF had launched an investigation into the leak. At that stage, Braverman should not have been aware that a probe existed.

Channel 12 says that police findings since Baharav-Miara’s directive have strengthened the case against Braverman, and it will now be up to the attorney general to determine how to proceed.

Meanwhile, Braverman is slated to become the next ambassador to the UK in the coming months.

Trump says US will strike Iran if regime kills protesters

US President Donald Trump says that Washington will strike Iran if the Islamic Republic kills people protesting against the regime.

He has made variations of this threat several times since the protests started 13 days ago.

“Iran is in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump tells reporters in the White House when asked about the protests. “We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

“I’ve made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved… That doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts. We don’t want that to happen,” he continues.

“This is something pretty incredible that’s happening in Iran… They’ve done a bad job. They’ve treated their people very badly, and now they’re being paid back,” Trump says.

France, Britain, Germany condemn killing of protesters in Iran

French, British and German leaders have condemned the killing of protesters in Iran and urged the Iranian authorities to refrain from violence, in a joint statement released by French President Emmanuel Macron’s office.

“The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect its own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,” the joint statement says.

Thousands join anti-government protests in Iranian cities of Mashhad and Tehran

Thousands have reportedly taken to the streets in the city of Mashhad in northeast Iran, as protests against the government intensify. Mashhad is the hometown of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

An eyewitness tells Iran International that large crowds of protesters have also sprung up in the capital city of Tehran.

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi warns of possible Iran ‘massacre’ during internet shutdown

Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi warns security forces in the Islamic republic could be preparing to commit a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout” after imposing a nationwide internet shutdown.

The internet shutdown is “not a technical failure… it is a tactic”, the veteran campaigner, who now lives in exile, says on her official Telegram account.

She says she has received information that hundreds of people had been taken to a Tehran hospital on Thursday with “severe eye injuries” caused by pellet gun fire.

Trump says Colombia president to visit White House in February

US President Donald Trump says that Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist his administration long belittled, will visit the White House next month as he voiced optimism for ties.

“I am sure it will work out very well for Colombia, and the USA, but, cocaine and other drugs must be STOPPED from coming into the United States,” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform.

Report: Likud minister facing imminent indictment for corruption

Channel 12 reports that the far-right Likud Social Equality Minister May Golan faces an imminent indictment over a major corruption scandal in her office involving the illegal pocketing of government funds, along with other financial crimes.

A senior law enforcement official tells the network that Golan’s case is almost identical to that of former Yisrael Beytenu Knesset lawmaker Faina Kirshenbaum.

Kirshenbaum, a former deputy interior minister, was convicted in March 2020 of bribery, tax offenses, money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, and was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

PM says Israel won’t seek full renewal of 10-year military aid package from US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveals that he’s not seeking the full renewal of a 10-year US military assistance memorandum of understanding that expires in 2028.

Netanyahu says in an interview with The Economist that Israel could give up the subsidies it receives from the US to purchase American arms.

Netanyahu again predicts the expansion of the Abraham Accords, which have stalled amid Israel’s refusal to offer a political horizon for the Palestinians.

The premier claims that Arab leaders don’t actually care about the issue.

“In private conversations, you want the truth? I mean beyond the regular things? Many of them don’t give a hoot… They don’t care about the Palestinian issue. They care about its effect on the street,” he says.

Netanyahu avoids overly commenting on the Iranian protests, saying, “It may be a moment where the people of Iran take charge of their own destiny… Revolutions are best done from within.”

He avoids committing to another Israeli strike in Iran, but says, “I’ll tell you one definite time when we would resume our military activities… If Iran attacks us, which they might, then there will be horrible consequences for Iran. That’s definite. Everything else, I think we should see what is happening inside Iran.”

While Netanyahu says he is ready to appear before a commission of inquiry, which has not yet been set up, he avoids using the word “responsibility” when asked about Hamas’s October 7 attack and is quick to spread the blame among Israel’s security agencies and the rest of his cabinet, The Economist says.

After initially believing Iran protests weren’t threatening regime, US reportedly reassessing

US intelligence agencies are reassessing their view from earlier this week that the protests in Iran did not pose a threat to the regime, a US official tells Axios.

“The protests are serious, and we will continue to monitor them,” the senior US official says.