- 14 Jan 2026 - 22:59(22:59 GMT)
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For an overview of Trump’s military options for a potential attack on Iran, read our explainer here.
For a breakdown of how Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communication service is being used amid Iran’s telecommunications blackout, read our article here.
And for a timeline of how Iran’s deadly protest movement unfolded, watch our video here.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 22:45(22:45 GMT)
Here’s what happened today
This page will be closing soon. Here’s a recap of today’s main developments:
- US President Trump said he received information that “the killing in Iran is stopping” and that executions would not go ahead. Asked whether that meant the US would refrain from military intervention, as he previously threatened, Trump said Washington would “watch and see”.
- Rights group Amnesty International said it reviewed evidence showing “mass unlawful killings committed on an unprecedented scale” in Iran over the past week, including against “mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders”.
- A near-total telecommunications blackout across Iran extended into a seventh day, according to blackout monitor NetBlocks.
- The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries expressed deep alarm “at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” in Iran and threatened to further sanction the country if the government “continues to crack down on protests and dissent”.
- President Masoud Pezeshkian said the demands of Iranians must be heard over their dire economic conditions.
- Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said the country is ready to defend itself “with full force and until the last drop of blood” if it comes under attack.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 22:40(22:40 GMT)
Iran closes airspace, international flights to and from Iran exempt
Iran has closed its airspace to all flights except international flights to and from Iran.
According to FlightRadar, a flight tracking platform, Tehran issued a notice that the airspace was closed for “a little more than two hours”.
❌ New NOTAM just issued by Iran closing airspace to all flights except international flights to/from Iran with permission. NOTAM is valid for a little more than 2 hours.
Live view of Iranian airspace: https://t.co/8pUMTxjSkS pic.twitter.com/8GTGUZw0po
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 14, 2026
Advertisement - 14 Jan 2026 - 22:30(22:30 GMT)
LISTEN: Iran, Trump, and the deadliest crackdown on protests yet
Iran’s protests started with economic demands, but now, the Iranian government says it’s ready for war.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has told Iranian protesters that “help is on the way,” as Washington discusses military options.
Al Jazeera’s The Take speaks to experts on whether growing US-Iran tensions could spread.
Listen to the discussion below:
- 14 Jan 2026 - 22:15(22:15 GMT)
Trump avoiding ‘specific answers’ on possible military action
Mark Kimmitt, a former US State Department official, says Trump is “remaining ambiguous” over the possibility of taking military action against Iran for its crackdown on protesters.
“He doesn’t give the Iranians specific answers on the issue of whether we’re standing down or standing up, and I think that ambiguity he’s passing on to the Iranians means they have to think very carefully on their next steps. He has demonstrated that he is far more willing than previous presidents to use military force,” Kimmitt told Al Jazeera.
He explained that one military option for the US to potentially take was to do like the Israelis did against the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, and “systematically take out the leadership”.
“We know the leaders, we know their subalterns, we know their subordinates, and if they’re going to kill protesters, it needs to be understood that they will either be killed or captured and share a cell with [abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro in a couple of days,” Kimmitt said.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 22:00(22:00 GMT)
Is Starlink helping Iranians break internet blackout?
After Iran’s government cut off access to much of the internet on Thursday, Iranians have turned to proxy tools and Starlink’s constellation of low-orbit satellites to get online and share news of the protests with the outside world.
Starlink does not have a licence to operate in Iran, but thousands of its terminals have been smuggled into Iran since 2022, when then-United States President Joe Biden authorised US tech companies to bypass sanctions and sell Iranians communication tools.
That move coincided with mass protests that had broken out over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who was arrested for allegedly wearing the hijab improperly.
More recently, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he wanted to see Starlink restore internet access to Iran, and he would speak to Musk about the issue.
Read more here.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 21:45(21:45 GMT)
UK temporarily closes embassy in Tehran
The United Kingdom embassy has been temporarily closed and will operate remotely, the government says.
It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier said the UK was working with allies on further sanctions against the regime.
A UK government spokesperson said on Wednesday: “We have temporarily closed the British Embassy in Tehran; this will now operate remotely. Foreign Office travel advice has now been updated to reflect this consular change.”
- 14 Jan 2026 - 21:30(21:30 GMT)
Top Iranian diplomat says government in ‘full control’ after days of protests
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his government is in full control after a deadly crackdown on protests that had spread across the country since January 8.
“After three days of terrorist operation, now there is a calm. We are in full control,” Araghchi told US broadcaster Fox News’ Special Report programme.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 21:15(21:15 GMT)
Trump’s statement on Iran killings ‘stopping’ appears to be ‘face-saving’ tactic
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, says Trump’s claim that he’s received information indicating killings in Iran had stopped appears, on the surface, to be a “face-saving way” to avoid military intervention, though it does not entirely rule out such a conflict.
“It’s hard to take what Trump says seriously, but we do know that he’s had an aversion to getting sucked into big, open-ended military conflicts, and with Iran, that risk was on the table,” Toossi told Al Jazeera.
“This remark today suggests he’s looking for a face-saving way out, but I wouldn’t take it as 100 percent ruling that out,” he said, adding that Trump has a track record of negotiating with Iran while simultaneously threatening military action.
Advertisement - 14 Jan 2026 - 21:05(21:05 GMT)
More from Trump
When asked if his statement claiming that Iran has stopped killing protesters meant that the military actions the US was threatening Tehran with were now off the table, Trump said Washington was going to “watch and see what the process is, but we’re going to give a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on”.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 21:00(21:00 GMT)
Nobel winner Ebadi urges US not to start war in Iran, suggests ‘highly targeted actions’
Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has said the US should weigh “highly targeted actions” against Iran’s leaders or state media, while stopping short of outright war.
“Preventing the massacre of the Iranian people does not require a full-scale war; it does not require killing more people,” Ebadi, who lives in exile in the United Kingdom, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “What we are asking for is not war, but concrete steps to stop the killing of civilians.”
“Just as the regime has cut off the people’s communication with one another, the communication channels between the regime, its security forces and the public should also be cut,” said Ebadi.
She added that “another option is the possibility of highly targeted actions against Iran’s supreme leader and senior commanders” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi [File: NTB/Fredrik Varfjell/via Reuters] - 14 Jan 2026 - 20:55(20:55 GMT)
Trump ‘has said too much to back down now’
Trump appears torn over how to respond to the Iran protests, tempted by a quick win like the one he claimed after the 12-day war in June, yet cautious about sliding into a drawn-out Middle East conflict, says Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington DC.
“I’m not sure that there is [an end game for Washington],” Slavin told Al Jazeera. “I don’t think Trump really understands very much about the dynamics of any foreign government.”
“With Iran,” she continued, “I think he’s probably torn.”
While the US president would like “another quick victory, I don’t think he wants to be involved in a protracted conflict in the Middle East that goes against all his instincts,” Slavin said, adding that she expects Trump to carry out limited strikes that enable him to claim he fulfilled his pledge to “help” the Iranian people, without triggering “a wider escalation”.
“We will probably see within the next couple of days what that is going to be,” Slavin added. “I think [Trump has] said too much to back down now.”
- 14 Jan 2026 - 20:45(20:45 GMT)
Trump’s statement indicating ‘potential cooling down’
At first, that comment appeared as a throwaway, but then, he repeated it on a number of occasions, saying precisely that he understands that the killings in Iran are stopping, that there will be no executions in the course of the day.
Now, he did not cite his sources for this information, but appeared to be fairly convinced of the information’s accuracy, and, if so, given the fact that he repeated the statement, it does appear to be a softening or a backing down from the very strong rhetoric that he’s been exercising.
Given the fact that he’s continually threatened to do something if Iran goes ahead and executes arrested demonstrators.
It does appear that he’s still mulling over various options; he’s been briefed by his national security council, but these statements we’ve just heard do indicate a potential cooling down of the situation and President Trump backing away from the precipice of imminent action, which he has been threatening.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 20:40(20:40 GMT)
Germany warns airlines against flying into Iranian airspace: Report
German authorities have put out a directive urging German airlines to avoid Iranian airspace, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.
The warning comes as several European countries also warn their citizens against travelling to Iran due to security concerns.
🇩🇪✈️🇮🇷⚠️ German authorities have issued a new NOTAM cautioning German airlines from entering Iranian airspace. Lufthansa was scheduled to resume flights to Tehran on Friday. The airline last operated the route in June 2025.
A) EDGG EDWW EDMM B) 2601141705 C) 2602102359 E)… pic.twitter.com/MN68wzzSep
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 14, 2026
- 14 Jan 2026 - 20:30(20:30 GMT)
‘Without this regime, what comes next?’
Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University, says Iran’s government has lost “a tremendous amount of legitimacy” in recent years, but still remains well organised domestically, making its future difficult to predict.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Slavin said Iran’s government has “lost a lot of its regional power and influence” due to crippling sanctions and attacks targeting its regional allies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah leadership. Other domestic challenges, such as water shortages, have caused further economic strain, she added.
“In one sense, [the Iranian government] is hollow, it’s very weak,” said Slavin. “But in another sense, it’s still well organised, it still has thousands and thousands, if not millions, of people who rely upon it,” and may fear change more than the status quo.
“If you don’t have this regime, what comes next?” asked Slavin. “Do you have a resurrected monarchy; do you have civil war that could go on for years and years? For most people, who are usually fairly conservative, they prefer a terrible status quo to an unknown possibility of change.”
“Will this balance shift? We haven’t seen it shift yet.”
Pro-government demonstrators in Tehran [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu] - 14 Jan 2026 - 20:25(20:25 GMT)
Trump says new information on Iran ‘just got to him’
Continuing his comments in the White House, Trump said the report that “killing has stopped” in Iran has “just gotten to him”.
“The executions have stopped,” Trump also stressed. “They’re not going to have an execution, which a lot of people were talking about over the last couple of days.”
As we’ve been reporting, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iranian authorities kill protesters.
US President Donald Trump attends a signing ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, January 14 [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters] - 14 Jan 2026 - 20:15(20:15 GMT)
Verified footage of Iran protests shows ‘mass unlawful killings’, Amnesty says
Amnesty International has verified videos and credible information from witnesses in Iran that reveal “mass unlawful killings committed on an unprecedented scale” during the ongoing communications blackout.
The organisation analysed dozens of videos and photographs from 10 cities in the provinces of Alborz, Gilan, Kermanshah, Razavi Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan and Tehran since the protests began on January 8.
“The evidence gathered by Amnesty International points to a coordinated nationwide escalation in the security forces’ unlawful use of lethal force against mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders,” Amnesty said in a press release.
“According to video analysis and eyewitness accounts, security forces involved in the deadly crackdown include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Basij battalions, and various divisions of Iran’s police force, known by its Persian acronym FARAJA, as well as plain-clothes agents,” it added.
The verified footage also depicted severe and fatal injuries, including gunshot wounds to the head and eyes. Other footage shows security forces chasing and directly firing at fleeing protesters.
Advertisement - 14 Jan 2026 - 20:10(20:10 GMT)
Trump says he’s received word that ‘killing in Iran has stopped’
Speaking to reporters in the White House, Trump says he has received reliable information that “the killing in Iran is stopping, is stopped … and there’s no plan for executions”.
“I’ve been told that on good authority,” Trump added. “We’ll find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, we’ll be very upset.”
- 14 Jan 2026 - 20:00(20:00 GMT)
Italy, Poland call on its citizens to leave Iran
Italy and Poland are the latest countries to advise their citizens to leave Iran over security concerns.
In a statement, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against all travel to Iran, saying the situation there is “unstable”, and urged Polish citizens who are in the country to immediately depart.
Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, meanwhile, repeated its call for Italian citizens in Iran to leave the country if they are able to do so.
- 14 Jan 2026 - 19:45(19:45 GMT)
WATCH: Are Western leaders guilty of hypocrisy over calls for free speech in Iran?
Iran protests updates: Trump appears to soften rhetoric after Iran threats
These were the developments on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
US could target Iranian security leaders if killings continue: Analysis
Published On 14 Jan 2026
The page is closed.
- United States President Donald Trump has repeated on a number of occasions that he understands the killings in Iran have stopped and that there will be no executions in the course of the day.
- The comments come just hours after Trump threatened to attack Iran, prompting Tehran to warn of retaliation and a number of countries to issue advisories for protecting their citizens in the region.
- Qatar confirms the removal of some personnel from the Al Udeid airbase housing about 10,000 US troops, saying it was in response to “current regional tensions” as it continues to call for de-escalation.
- The internet has now been cut off in Iran for more than five days, although international phone services have resumed sporadically.
- More than 100 security personnel have been killed in two weeks of unrest, Iran’s state media reports, while opposition activists say the death toll is higher and includes thousands of protesters. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify these figures.
