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11:27
Joint British-Qatari Air Squadron Departs For Persian Gulf
The UK has announced that a joint British-Qatari Royal Air Force squadron, known as Squadron 12, has been deployed to the Persian Gulf region with Typhoon fighter jets.
In a January 22press release,the British Ministry of Defense announced the news, adding that "this action was taken in the wake of regional tensions" and "for purely defensive purposes."
According to the UK's Ministry of Defense, the deployment was made at the invitation of the Qatari government and aims to showcase the "strong and enduring defense relations" and to "maintain regional stability."
British Defense Secretary John Haley, in remarks quoted in the press release, said that Qatar and the UK are "close partners with historic defense ties" and that this cooperation strengthens "the national security of both our nations" and supports "stability in the Gulf region."
Squadron 12 has been regularly deployed to Qatar and has participated in joint training and exercises, the press release said.
The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, along with its planes and flight crews, was rerouted from the South China Sea and is accompanied by destroyers and a cruiser.
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11:21
Grieving Mother Of Protester Calls Khamenei An 'Executioner'
In a video being widely shared, the mother of Daniyal Diani, a victim of the authorities' crackdown in the southeastern city of Kerman, can be seen clutching a photo of her son at his funeral.
Seemingly resigned to her fate and the high death toll, the mother calls Khamenei an executioner and appeals for him to "rule over the blood of our children."(It isn't an invitation to rule per se but an implication that Khamenei rules over a system that sustains its power through bloodshed.)
According to various media reports, Daniyal Diani was a native of Kerman and a law student at Razi University in Kermanshah, a city in western Iran. He was reportedly shot and killed when security forces attempted to quell the protests in Kerman on January 8.
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09:57
Iran Protest Deaths Could Reach 20,000
Mai Sato
Mai Sato, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, has said that the number of people reported killed in Irans protest crackdown has surged, with one estimate suggesting the total could be more than 20,000.
In aninterview with ABC Newsthis week, Sato estimated that the number of civilians killed was at least 5,000. However, she also said that figure could be 20,000 or more, according to reports she had received from doctors inside Iran.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that the number of confirmed fatalities has reached 5,002, while the number of deaths still under investigation has risen to 9,787.
In addition, at least 7,391 people have suffered serious injuries during the protests, and the total number of arrests has increased to 26,852, according to HRANA.s
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08:30
Good morning. We're opening the live blog now with US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters on Air Force One while flying back from Davos.
Trump said that the US is watching Iran closely:
"You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and well see what happens."
"I said, if you hang those people, you're going to be hit harder than you've ever been hit. It will make what we did to your Iran nuclear [infrastructure] look like peanuts."
"And they actually said they canceled [the hangings], they didn't postpone it, they canceled it -- so that was a good sign."
"We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won't have to use it, we'll see."
Meanwhile, NetBlocks reports that Iran's national internet blackout continues, now in its third week. The monitoring group noticed only a slight rise in overall connectivity and "tunneled users," which refers to Iranians who have managed to bypass the blackout.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that the number of confirmed fatalities has reached 5,002, while the number of deaths still under investigation has risen to 9,787. In addition, at least 7,391 people have suffered serious injuries during the protests, and the total number of arrests has increased to 26,852, according to HRANA.
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22:12
22.1.2026
We are now closing the live blog for today. We'll be back again tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to follow the latest developments in Iran.
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19:46
22.1.2026
Iranians Mourn Family Members Killed In Mass Protests
Family and friends of Alireza Rahimi lit candles and played his favorite music on what would have been his birthday following weeks of a deadly state crackdown on protesters throughout Iran. Rahimi was killed, along with more than 4,900 others in Iran according to the HRANA human rights organization, during recent protests over a dire economy and the repressive theocracy headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
