Iran protests latest updates: Trump briefed on ‘strike options’ as Iranian military tightens grip on protesters

According to the latest date from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, the number of confirmed fatalities had risen to 544 people.

It added that more than 10,681 individuals have also been transferred to prisons following arrest.

The agency said Protests have taken place at 585 locations across the country, in 186 cities, spanning all 31 provinces.

UK shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “As Iran’s violent and repressive regime continues their senseless brutally against courageous unarmed Iranians, the despots of Tehran must know they cannot stop the will of the Iranian people in their fight for freedom.”

The Foreign Office has rejected reports from Iran that the UK’s ambassador in Tehran Hugo Shorter was summoned over the flag incident, with sources insisting he merely “had a meeting” at the Foreign Ministry.

Earlier, demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street to call for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be banned as a terrorist organisation – a call which has support from senior figures in Parliament including Labour peer Lord Spellar and former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said there was a “very thorough process” that was necessary before decisions about proscription could be made by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

She said: “As a government, we keep those decisions about the proscription of organisations under constant review and I have no doubt that Shabana Mahmood is doing that at the moment.”

Ms Alexander said the UK’s priority was to “stem the violence”.

A 23-year-old student was shot dead at close range after joining mass anti-government protests in Iran, according to a human rights group, as the regime continues its crackdown on demonstrations.

According to the Iran Human Rights group, Rubina Aminian, 23, was killed on 8 January after leaving Shariati College in Tehran, the nation’s capital, and joining protest gatherings.

Sources close to her family told Norway-based Iran Human Rights that Ms Aminian, who was a student of textile and fashion design, was shot from behind at close range, with the bullet striking her head.

More than 500 people have died since protests began in Iran, a rights group said on Sunday, as Tehran threatened to target U.S. military bases if President Donald Trump carries out threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

With the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if force is used on protesters.

According to its latest figures – from activists inside and outside Iran – U.S.-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, with more than 10,600 people arrested in two weeks of unrest.

Iran has not given an official toll.

The UK wants to see a “peaceful transition” of power in Iran, a Cabinet minister said as the Tehran regime continued to violently crack down on protests.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the UK’s priority was to “stem the violence”.

She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “The British Government has always viewed Iran as a hostile state.

“We know that they pose a security threat in the Middle East and beyond and we know that they have been a repressive regime in terms of their own population.

“And so I think the priority, as of today, is to try and stem the violence that is happening in Iran at the moment.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it would be right for the US to help oust the Islamic Republic’s leadership in Iran and indicated she would support RAF involvement if necessary.

She told BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “You’ve seen the recent RAF strikes, for instance, in Syria. Without over speculating – we are talking about hypothetical situations – we have worked in alliance with other countries.

“I think this has to be something that we do with a broad coalition of countries. That is the right way to do it, and to make sure that we create a stable Iran.

“The worst possible thing would be for this to escalate to a point where the situation gets worse, not better.”

Dec. 28: Protests break out in two major markets in downtown Tehran, after the Iranian rial plunged to a new record low.

Dec. 29: The central bank head resigns as the protests spread and police fire tear gas at protesters.

Dec. 30: President Masoud Pezeshkian vows to work with business leaders to hear their demands as university campuses join protests.

Dec. 31: Protests in Fasa allegedly turn violent after crowds break into the governor’s office.

Jan. 1: The protests’ first fatalities are officially reported, with authorities saying at least seven people have been killed.

Jan. 2: Trump threatens Iran if it kills peaceful protesters.

Jan. 3: Khamenei greenlights security forces in crackdown. Protests reach 170 locations with 15 dead.

Jan. 8: The government blocks the internet after Reza Pahlavi calls on citizens to act.

Jan. 9: Iran ramps up threats of punishment with 65 reported killed and 2,300 detained.

Jan. 11: Iran’s parliament speaker threatens to strike US military bases in the region if Trump attacks, as rights groups say 538 people have now been killed. HRANA reports arrests have surpassed 10,000.