US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials amid the brutal crackdown on protesters, telling Iranians "help is on its way."
At least 12,000 people were killed over two nights on January 8 and 9 during protests, Iran International’s editorial board concluded, based on a review of sources and medical data.
Several European countries, including the Netherlands, Spain and Finland, summoned Iran’s ambassadors to protest the crackdown on protesters.
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi said he was in direct contact with the Trump administration, calling it a potential game-changer for Iran and the region.
Sweden’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest deadly violence against peaceful demonstrators and widespread arbitrary detentions.
"The Iranian people's right to express their opinions and to demonstrate must be respected," Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on X on Wednesday, calling for internet access in Iran to be restored.
Plainclothes security forces and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have targeted the homes of families of people killed in recent protests in eastern Tehran, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International.
The sources said the forces carried out intimidating raids, including firing shots, hurling insults and ransacking homes.
They added that families were instructed to collect the bodies of those killed during pre-dawn hours and to conduct burials quickly and privately, or face the risk of collective burials.
The sources also said families were told they would be charged fees related to the use of live ammunition.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the days of dictators were numbered and that they would come to an end in 2026, as she urged the European Union to step up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protesters.
"2026 is the year where dictatorships will be over," Metsola said in an interview with Euronews, adding that the Iranian leadership was "on its last legs."
She called on the EU to move quickly on measures including more sanctions and a possible designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that US methods on the world stage reflected what he described as a steadily worsening competitive position.
Lavrov also said Russia needed to keep working with Iran to implement bilateral agreements and that a third party could not change the nature of ties between Moscow and Tehran.
He said US actions focused on oil and securing other resources made Washington look unreliable.
Finnish lawmaker Mika Aaltola on Wednesday criticized several EU countries for blocking the designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.
"How can Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and France justify this?" Aaltola wrote on X. "To block this designation now is a total betrayal of moral clarity and a slap in the face to those fighting for Iranian freedom."
Protesters gather in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday to show solidarity with the ongoing demonstrations in Iran.
Iran’s Justice Minister Amirhossein Rahimi said on Wednesday that anyone who was on the streets and arrested after a protest call by exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi on Jan. 8 was a criminal.
"Anyone who was on the streets after Jan. 8 and was arrested is a criminal," Rahimi said.
Demonstrators gathered in London on January 13 in a rally in support of the national uprising back home.
Some personnel were advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening, three diplomats told Reuters.
Al Udeid is the largest US base in the Middle East, housing around 10,000 troops. Ahead of US air strikes on Iran in June, some personnel were moved off US bases in the region.
Iranian authorities on Wednesday published a list of cafes and shopping malls that they said had supported recent protests, sharing screenshots of what they described as the businesses’ social media activity.
The list was released for what officials said was the attention of judicial and security bodies.
Earlier, Iran’s prosecutor general said law enforcement agencies must identify and seize the assets of those involved in the unrest.