Swift executions of protesters likely: Iran
INTERNATIONAL – ASIA
15 JANUARY 2026
- The head of Iran’s judiciary defied a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump and signalled That there would be swift trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests.
- A bloody security force crackdown on one of the biggest anti-government protests Iran has seen in years has already killed at least 2,571 people, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported.
- Mr. Trump has repeatedly warned that the U.S. may take military action over the killing of peaceful protesters, just months after it bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel in June 2025.
- The Islamic Republic held a mass funeral of some 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations.
- Tens of thousands of mourners attended, holding Iranian flags and photos of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- People elsewhere in Iran remained fearful in the streets. Plainclothes security forces still milled around some neighbourhoods, though anti-riot police and members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force appeared to have been sent back to their barracks.
- Iran began allowing people to call out internationally via their mobile phones, but calls from people outside the country into Iran remain blocked.
- Meanwhile, activists said that Starlink was offering free service in Iran. The satellite internet service has been key in getting around an internet shutdown launched by the government on January 8, 2026.
