World

(LONDON) — The Trump administration said Thursday it is sanctioning five top Iranian officials who they say are responsible for the nation’s “brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.” 

“Our message to the Iranian people is clear: Your demands are legitimate,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a video on social media about the action. “You are protesting for a noble cause, and the United States supports you and your efforts to peacefully oppose the regime’s mismanagement and brutality.“

The targeted security officials include Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, who the Treasury said was “one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people.”

Commanders with the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also targeted, according to the Treasury Department.

“The officials sanctioned today — and their organizations — bear responsibility for the thousands of deaths and injuries of their fellow citizens as protests erupted in each of these provinces,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

As part of the sanctions, the State Department said the U.S. is also designating the “notorious” Fardis Prison.

“As the brave people of Iran continue to fight for their basic rights, the Iranian regime has responded with violence and cruel repression against its own people,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement, which added, “We will continue to deny the regime access to financial networks and the global banking system while it continues to oppress the Iranian people.”

As of Wednesday, 18 days of protests and a resulting crackdown by security forces had seen 2,615 deaths and 18,470 people arrested, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Among the dead were 13 children and 14 non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.

On the government side, HRANA said it had confirmed the deaths of 153 members of the security forces.

Another 882 additional deaths remain under investigation, HRANA said.

The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify its numbers.

Iran briefly issued a notice, known as a NOTAM, closing its airspace to most flights, after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at possible action against Iran and in support of anti-government protests which have roiled the country in recent weeks.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization confirmed on Thursday morning that flights were back in operation over the country, according to a statement carried by Iranian state-aligned media.

Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial. As the protests spread, they took on a more explicitly anti-government tone.

The subsequent security crackdown has included a sustained national internet blackout, which — according to online monitoring group NetBlocks — had been in place for 156 hours as of Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, Cloudflare’s threat-intelligence unit said in a statement that it had “observed Iranian authorities targeting Instagram accounts with tools that perform bulk extraction of follower lists and account activity.”

Estimates of the death toll from the protests have varied, with the internet and communications blackout making it difficult to establish clear figures. 

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday, “We’ve seen numbers vary from 2,000 to 12,000. All of those numbers are horrendous, but I don’t have a number to share with you.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against the government in Tehran — which is headed by its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — in response to violence against protesters.

Trump said Wednesday that he had been informed that the “killing” in Iran had stopped and that anticipated executions of arrested protesters would not take place.

The information was coming from “very important sources on the other side,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “We’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true. Who knows, right?” he added.

Asked by a reporter if this means that military action was now off the table, Trump responded, “We’re going to watch and see what the process is. But we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.”

On Tuesday, Trump had addressed protesters on social media, urging “Iranian Patriots” to “TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” He added, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.

Iranian officials have also threatened retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.

On Wednesday, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that some personnel had been advised to leave al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar due to increased tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, Tehran has signaled an intent to proceed with expedited trials and executions for those arrested during the protests. 

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, said Wednesday, “If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press.

“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that “hundreds” of people had been killed and again characterized the protests as an “Israeli plot” and a “terrorist operation.”

Araghchi said that the protests had died down and that the government is “in full control.”

ABC News’ Ayesha Ali, Morgan Winsor, Somayeh Malekian and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration said Wednesday the Gaza peace plan is moving into the next phase, which it said “begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.”

“Today, on behalf of President Trump, we are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President’s 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction,” U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said in a statement on X.

The announcement comes as officials and observers question the stability of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which has largely held despite isolated violations.

According to Witkoff, phase two “establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel.”

Witkoff said the U.S. expects Hamas to “comply fully,” including by immediately returning the final deceased hostage, identified by Israeli officials as Ran Gvili.

“Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff said.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Wednesday that the return of Gvili “is a top priority.”

“Hamas is required to meet the terms of the agreement to exert 100% effort for the return of the fallen hostages, down to the very last one, Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel,” the office said in a statement on X.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called the announcement on the second phase an “important positive development” and said they are “fully prepared to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip” to the NCAG.

Qassem said they demand that the U.S. “compel” Israel to “fulfill the requirements of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement and move towards the second phase.”

The NCAG is a body of an expected 15 Palestinian leaders tasked with the monumental challenge of governing Gaza. The committee would be responsible for Gaza’s day-to-day management, including sanitation, infrastructure and education. 

The NCAG will ultimately be run by a “Board of Peace,” which is expected to be made up of 12 as-yet-unannounced leaders. Trump and other European leaders are expected to lead the Board of Peace and oversee this newly formed committee. The announcement is expected in the coming days.

Speaking aboard Air Force One Sunday, Trump said the Board of Peace council would be made up of “the most important leaders of the most important countries,” though he did not name them.

U.S. officials confirmed Nickolay Mladenov, the former United Nations special coordinator for Middle East peace and a former Bulgarian foreign minister, will be appointed as the new senior representative for the Board of Peace and will oversee implementation of the plan. Mladenov is expected to serve as a liaison between the NCAG and the peace council.

American officials have said they hope that establishing the committee will help loosen Hamas’ grip on Gaza.

Witkoff on Wednesday thanked Egypt, Turkey and Qatar “for their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible.”

In a joint statement, the three Middle Eastern countries said they “welcome the formation” of the NCAG, saying it is an “important development that will contribute to strengthening efforts aimed at consolidating stability and improving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”

The initial phase of the peace plan, which launched in October 2025, saw the release of the remaining living hostages and the return of the remains of 27 deceased hostages in Gaza, as well as the release of more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners that had been held by Israel. The first phase also entailed that the Israel Defense Forces pull back to the so-called “yellow line” in Gaza, intended as the first of three demarcation lines, and saw restrictions on humanitarian aid going into Gaza lifted.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization confirmed on Thursday morning that flights were back in operation over the country, according to a statement carried by Iranian state-aligned media.

Iran issued a notice, known as a NOTAM, on Wednesday closing its airspace to all flights except international civil arrivals and departures with prior permission from Iran’s aviation authorities. The NOTAM was initially extended through 10:30 p.m. ET but then expired.

The NOTAM was issued after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at possible action against Iran and in support of anti-government protests which have roiled the country in recent weeks.

As of Wednesday, 18 days of protests and a resulting crackdown by security forces had seen 2,615 deaths and 18,470 people arrested, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Among the dead were 13 children and 14 non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.

On the government side, HRANA said it had confirmed the deaths of 153 members of the security forces.

Another 882 additional deaths remain under investigation, HRANA said.

The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify its numbers.

Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial. As the protests spread, they took on a more explicitly anti-government tone.

The subsequent security crackdown has included a sustained national internet blackout, which — according to online monitoring group NetBlocks — had been in place for 156 hours as of Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, Cloudflare’s threat-intelligence unit said in a statement that it had “observed Iranian authorities targeting Instagram accounts with tools that perform bulk extraction of follower lists and account activity.”

Estimates of the death toll from the protests have varied, with the internet and communications blackout making it difficult to establish clear figures.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday, “We’ve seen numbers vary from 2,000 to 12,000. All of those numbers are horrendous, but I don’t have a number to share with you.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against the government in Tehran — which is headed by its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — in response to violence against protesters.

Trump said Wednesday that he had been informed that the “killing” in Iran had stopped and that anticipated executions of arrested protesters would not take place.

The information was coming from “very important sources on the other side,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “We’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true. Who knows, right?” he added.

Asked by a reporter if this means that military action was now off the table, Trump responded, “We’re going to watch and see what the process is. But we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.”

On Tuesday, Trump had addressed protesters on social media, urging “Iranian Patriots” to “TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” He added, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.

Iranian officials have also threatened retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.

On Wednesday, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that some personnel had been advised to leave al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar due to increased tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, Tehran has signaled an intent to proceed with expedited trials and executions for those arrested during the protests.

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, said Wednesday, “If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press

“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that “hundreds” of people had been killed and again characterized the protests as an “Israeli plot” and a “terrorist operation.”

Araghchi said that the protests had died down and that the government is “in full control.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he’s been informed that the “killing” in Iran has stopped and the anticipated executions of arrested protesters won’t take place, as activists say thousands of people have died over more than two weeks of protests.

The information was coming from “very important sources on the other side,” Trump said while announcing the update during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

“We’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true. Who knows, right?” he added.

Asked by a reporter if this means that military action is now off the table against Iran, Trump responded, “We’re going to watch and see what the process is. But we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.”

More than 2,500 people have died during nationwide protests in Iran over the past 17 days, activists said Wednesday. Trump has expressed his support for demonstrators and hinted at potential American intervention against the government in Tehran over the killings.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified a total of 2,571 deaths — and is reviewing reports of 779 other deaths — since the protests began on Dec. 28. 

The confirmed deaths include 2,403 adult protesters, 12 protesters under the age of 18, 147 government-affiliated personnel and nine non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.

Another 1,134 protesters have been seriously injured, HRANA said, with at least 18,137 people arrested.

The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The Iranian government has not provided any civilian death tolls related to the ongoing protests.

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, had suggested earlier Wednesday that there would be expedited trials and executions for those who have been arrested in the nationwide protests.

“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press.

“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.

Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday that he’s been told that the executions are not happening.

“It was supposed to be a lot of executions today, and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said.

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that some personnel had been advised to leave al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening due to increased tensions in the region. Reuters was the first to report the advisory.

In a statement posted to its official website, Qatar’s International Media Office acknowledged that some personnel were leaving al-Udeid. “Such measures are being undertaken in response to the current regional tensions,” the statement said.

As casualties from the protests mounted, Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”

“I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added.

When later pressed by a reporter during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday on what he meant by help is on its way, Trump responded, “You’re gonna have to figure that one out, I’m sorry.”

Trump said he thought it was “a good idea” for Americans to evacuate from Iran. The State Department on Tuesday said that all U.S. citizens should leave the country.

Trump said he hasn’t been given an accurate number of how many people have been killed so far in the protests, but said “one is a lot.”

“I think it’s a lot. It’s too many, whatever it is,” he said.

Later Tuesday, he told reporters that he will be receiving “accurate numbers” on how many protesters have been killed in Iran soon and “we’ll act accordingly.”

Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran. The president and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested other options are also still under discussion.

One U.S. official told ABC News that among the options under consideration are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.

Members of Trump’s national security team — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — met Tuesday morning to discuss Iran, according to Leavitt. Trump did not attend the meeting, nor was he scheduled to, she said. 

Vice President JD Vance also led an Iran strategy meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the National Security Council principals committee, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting confirmed to ABC News.

Iranian officials have threatened retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.

Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial. 

As the protests spread, they have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.

Government forces have responded with a major security crackdown. A sustained national internet outage has also been in place across the country. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the blackout had surpassed 132 hours.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.

On Wednesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media telling a meeting with Economy Ministry officials that if economic conditions were improved, “we wouldn’t be witnessing their protests on the streets.”

Dissident figures abroad have urged Iranians to press the protests and topple the government in Tehran.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — who from his base in the U.S. has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government — on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.

On Tuesday, Pahlavi called on members of the Iranian military to join the protests. “You are the national military of Iran, not the military of the Islamic Republic,” he wrote on X.

“You have a duty to protect the lives of your compatriots,” Pahlavi added. “You do not have much time. Join them as soon as possible.”

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least 32 people were killed on Wednesday as a construction crane for a high-speed rail bridge collapsed onto a moving passenger train in Thailand, government officials said.

At least 64 others were injured, the Thai Ministry of Public Health said in a statement. Thirty-one of those who were killed were pronounced dead at the scene, the ministry said, adding that another person died as they were being transferred to a hospital.

The crane crashed onto the train at about 9 a.m. as the train traveled between the Nong Nam Khun and Sikhiu stations, in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

“Train derailed and caught fire. 30+ passengers injured, many trapped in carriages,” the government said in an initial statement posted on social media. “Multiple rescue teams deployed.”

The train, which had departed from Bangkok, was carrying 195 passengers and staff members, according to the State Railway of Thailand. 

“These figures are currently being verified and officially confirmed by the relevant agencies on the ground,” the minister said in Thai in a statement posted to social media.

The health ministry raised that figure again, saying several hours later that at least 22 people had been killed. The ministry in a subsequent update at about 4:30 p.m. said the toll had again climbed, hitting 31. The ministry said two hours later that the death toll at the scene had risen by one, adding that three people were also considered missing.

The bodies of the dead were transferred to Sikhiu Hospital, the ministry said, adding that many of the injured were being treated at several local hospitals. Eleven were still hospitalized as of the 4:30 p.m. update, the ministry said.

The train was listed as the Special Express Train No. 21, which connects Bangkok, the capital, with Ubon Ratchithani, a city in the northeast, according to the railway.

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(NEW YORK) — South Korean prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is standing trial on charges of leading an insurrection.

During a 17-hour closing hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors argued that Yoon’s alleged actions posed a grave threat to the constitutional order and warranted the maximum punishment allowed under South Korean law. The former president has been on trial since he was impeached last April on charges that he led an insurrection by attempting to impose martial law in December 2024. Insurrection is one of the few crimes still punishable by death in the country.

“The fact that prosecutors sought the death penalty may be because former President Yoon continues to maintain that his actions were justified and has shown no remorse or acknowledgment of wrongdoing,” Jungkun Seo, a professor at Seoul’s Kyung Hee University, told ABC News Wednesday.

“It was widely expected that the outcome would be either the death penalty or life imprisonment,” Seo said.

South Korea has not carried out an execution in nearly 30 years, and legal observers said the prosecution’s request was consistent with past practice in cases involving former leaders accused of insurrection, even if the likelihood of an execution remains low.

Many lawmakers from the Democratic Party welcomed the call for the death penalty following the hearing.

“Calling for the death penalty for Yoon is not a matter of choice but a necessity and cannot be considered excessive,” Moon Geum-ju, a Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday.

Moon said suggesting a lesser sentence for someone accused of undermining the Constitution and plunging the country into crisis would be an affront to justice and common sense.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party appeared to distance themselves from the former president, declining to issue an official statement on the case.

Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk told reporters Wednesday that the special prosecutor’s sentencing request was not an issue he should comment on, adding that he expects the court to conduct a fair trial.

The presidential office said it expects the judiciary to rule in accordance with the law and public expectations.

Two former South Korean presidents were convicted of insurrection in the 1990s for their roles in a 1979 military coup. Prosecutors at the time sought the death penalty for former President Chun Doo-hwan and a life sentence for his successor, Roh Tae-woo.

Chun was initially sentenced to death, though the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Roh was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Both men were released after serving about two years following a presidential pardon, which the government at the time described as necessary for national reconciliation.

The court is scheduled to deliver a final verdict on Feb. 19 at the Seoul Central District Court.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — More than 2,500 people have died during nationwide protests in Iran over the past 17 days, activists said Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for demonstrators and hinted at potential American intervention against the government in Tehran.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified a total of 2,571 deaths — and is reviewing reports of 779 other deaths — since the protests began on Dec. 28.

The confirmed deaths include 2,403 adult protesters, 12 protesters under the age of 18, 147 government-affiliated personnel and nine non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.

Another 1,134 protesters have been seriously injured, HRANA said, with at least 18,137 people arrested.

The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The Iranian government has not provided any civilian death tolls related to the ongoing protests.

As casualties mounted, Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”

“I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added.

When later pressed by a reporter during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday on what he meant by help is on its way, Trump responded, “You’re gonna have to figure that one out, I’m sorry.”

Trump said he thought it was “a good idea” for Americans to evacuate from Iran. The State Department on Tuesday said that all U.S. citizens should leave the country.

Trump said he hasn’t been given an accurate number of how many people have been killed so far in the protests, but said “one is a lot.”

“I think it’s a lot. It’s too many, whatever it is,” he said.

Later Tuesday, he told reporters that he will be receiving “accurate numbers” on how many protesters have been killed in Iran soon and “we’ll act accordingly.”

Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran. The president and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested other options are also still under discussion.

One U.S. official told ABC News that among the options under consideration are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.

Members of Trump’s national security team — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — met Tuesday morning to discuss Iran, according to Leavitt. Trump did not attend the meeting, nor was he scheduled to, she said. 

Vice President JD Vance also led an Iran strategy meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the National Security Council principals committee, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting confirmed to ABC News.

Iranian officials have threatened retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.

Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial.

As the protests spread, they have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.

Government forces have responded with a major security crackdown. A sustained national internet outage has also been in place across the country. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the blackout had surpassed 132 hours.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, suggested Wednesday that there would be expedited trials and executions for those who have been arrested in the nationwide protests.

“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press.

“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.

On Wednesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media telling a meeting with Economy Ministry officials that if economic conditions were improved, “we wouldn’t be witnessing their protests on the streets.”

Dissident figures abroad have urged Iranians to press the protests and topple the government in Tehran.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — who from his base in the U.S. has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government — on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.

On Tuesday, Pahlavi called on members of the Iranian military to join the protests. “You are the national military of Iran, not the military of the Islamic Republic,” he wrote on X.

“You have a duty to protect the lives of your compatriots,” Pahlavi added. “You do not have much time. Join them as soon as possible.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — U.S. officials are expected to meet with Danish and Greenlandic counterparts in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, amid President Donald Trump’s continued expressions of intent to acquire the semi-autonomous Arctic territory despite collective opposition in both Copenhagen and Nuuk.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt are set to lead the delegation to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

In Denmark, “this is the big national news,” Jonas Parello-Plesner, a Danish political analyst and former diplomat, told ABC News. “If in the first Trump period the saying was, ‘You should take him seriously, but not literally,’ I think the saying this time around is, ‘You should both take him seriously and literally.'”

Trump first raised the prospect of acquiring the territory during his first term, when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the idea as “absurd.” Trump’s second term has seen the president speak more aggressively about the proposal.

“Even from a year ago, I see a quite stark difference in both Greenlandic and Danish attitudes that this is actually potentially really serious and life changing for the Kingdom of Denmark,” said Parello-Plesner, who is now the executive director at the Copenhagen-based nonprofit Alliance of Democracies Foundation.

Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told ABC News that the furor is prompting deeper questions among Danes and Greenlanders about their long-standing ties to the U.S.

“Is this who the U.S. is now? A superpower going around, invading its small democratic allies?” he asked. “That’s scary to think of.”

“Just think of what it will do for the American alliance system worldwide,” he added. “What kind of signal it sends — if you’re allied with the U.S., you may be invaded whenever it suits the U.S.”

‘You need ownership’
Trump has repeatedly suggested that U.S. sovereignty over the world’s largest island is necessary to ensure American security and blunt Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic region.

As a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is covered by NATO’s collective defense clause. Greenland hosts the U.S. Pituffik Space Base and around 150 American troops, the U.S. having significantly downgraded its footprint from its high point during the Cold War.

A 1951 defense agreement grants the U.S. military access to Greenland, and Danish politicians have repeatedly expressed willingness to work with Washington to expand the American and NATO presence there.

Danish officials have also sought to head off concerns about the supposed vulnerability of the Arctic. Last year, Copenhagen announced a $6.5 billion Arctic defense package in response to U.S. criticism that it had failed to adequately protect Greenland.

But Trump and his administration appear undeterred. “One way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One this weekend.

“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump said, before deriding Denmark’s military strength on the island.

“Basically, their defense is two dog sleds,” Trump said. “In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place.”

Asked if there was a deal to be done to avoid further tensions, Trump said he would “love to” because “it would be easier.”

But when pressed, the president said, “I could put a lot of soldiers there right now if I want. But you need more than that. You need ownership.”

Ahead of this week’s meeting, Danish and Greenlandic politicians issued statements again rebuffing any suggestion of a U.S. acquisition of the island, statements which were backed by other European leaders.

“If the United States decides to attack another NATO country, then everything would stop — that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security,” Frederiksen said in a statement.

“Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is a member of NATO through the Commonwealth and therefore the defense of Greenland is through NATO,” the government in Nuuk said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen posted a photo to social media showing a message sent to him by Frederiksen.

“Greenland will not be owned by the United States,” the message — written in Greenlandic — said. “Greenland does not want to be ruled by the United States. Greenland does not want to be a part of the United States. We want Greenland to continue to function as part of the Kingdom.”

The leaders of all five political parties holding seats in Greenland’s parliament also released a joint statement. “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said.

Before heading to the U.S. on Tuesday, Rasmussen — the Danish foreign minister — told reporters in Copenhagen, “Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given was to move this whole discussion, which has not become less tense since we last met, into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things.”

Appealing to ‘the deal-maker’
Olesen, of the Danish Institute for International Studies, said Trump’s most recent comments “should worry Danish politicians.” His apparent dismissal of Copenhagen’s efforts to bolster its Arctic readiness “means that either he hasn’t noticed” or “he doesn’t care. And either way, it’s pretty bad.”

Trump told The New York Times he believed U.S. ownership of Greenland “is what I feel is psychologically necessary for success.” That, too, is “problematic” for Copenhagen, Olesen said. “How do you deal with that?” he asked.

“That’s the conundrum for the Danish and the Greenlandic politicians,” Olesen said, “trying not to provoke Trump too much and trying to give him something.”

“It will be difficult to offer a compromise if all he wants is ownership,” he added.

Parello-Plesner, the former Danish diplomat, said the experiences of other nations during Trump’s second term may offer models.

Trump’s focus on Panama and perceived Chinese overreach produced a proposed deal for a U.S. firm to take control of two ports there owned by a Hong Kong conglomerate. The president described the deal as “reclaiming the Panama Canal.”

José Raúl Mulino, the president of Panama, addressed Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal in a post on X last March, saying in part: “President Trump is lying again. The Panama Canal is not in the process of being recovered, and this was certainly not a topic of discussion in our conversations with Secretary Rubio or anyone else. On behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, I reject this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation.”

In Ukraine, Kyiv alleviated U.S. pressure by agreeing to a rare earth minerals sharing deal as part of the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.

“There’s also a very pragmatic side to Trump — the deal maker,” Parello-Plesner said. “I think our side needs to give him something to work with,” he added.

That could mean fresh commitments on American military deployments in Greenland, a deal related to the territory’s untapped mineral wealth or a pledge to do more to block autocratic states from asserting their Arctic ambitions, Parello-Plesner said.

It is unclear what might appeal to the U.S. side, he continued. “We’ve seen for 30 years that the U.S. has just wanted to cut down on the presence up there and only uses it for limited missile defense purposes,” he said.

Regarding Greenland’s believed mineral wealth, Parello-Plesner said the U.S. government and private companies have been largely uninterested given the territory’s inhospitable weather and terrain, extraction challenges and global market forces.

A symbolic win might be enough to take the heat out of Trump’s push, Olesen said.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how far Danish and Greenlandic politicians feel they can go in order to avoid being humiliated, in order to avoid handing over the Greenlandic underground to a bully,” Olesen continued.

“But then again, the stakes are so high, so I wouldn’t rule it out, and I wouldn’t rule out that if this is something that could solve the crisis.”

In the meantime, both analysts said Copenhagen and Nuuk are likely to focus on bolstering the image of domestic unity, European solidarity, backing from the U.S. Congress and NATO-led Arctic security.

“The Trump policy line is not invulnerable,” Olesen said, noting pushback from U.S. voters and members of Congress — including prominent Republicans.

“At some point, Trump may decide that it’s not worth the bother anymore, and in that case, it would probably be wise to offer him some way to save face and get out of it,” he said.

But months of back and forth over Greenland have already done significant damage to transatlantic sentiment in Denmark, Parello-Plesner said, in a country he said has long prided itself on broad support for NATO and for close relations with the U.S. Danish forces, for example, sustained a comparable per capita casualty rate as the U.S. in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

That strength of feeling, he said, “has dropped tremendously.”

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(NEW YORK) — Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were expected to meet Wednesday at the White House with top diplomats from the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland, its semiautonomous territory, U.S. officials said, as tensions escalate amid President Donald Trump’s threats to “acquire” the island — possibly even by military force.

When asked about his strong personal interest in the world’s largest island, Trump repeatedly cites its rare earth minerals and other natural resources he says are critical to U.S. national security.

“One way or the other, we are going to have Greenland,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. He told the New York Times last week that his desire to take over the territory is “what I feel is psychologically needed for success.”

At the same time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen argues Trump using the U.S. military to seize Greenland would mark “the end of NATO” because Denmark, a NATO ally, like the U.S., is obligated to come to the island’s defense, as are other European NATO allies.

The European Union’s defense commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, echoed her grave hypothetical scenario, contending Europe would be forced to confront the U.S. if Greenland’s NATO allies had to protect it from an American takeover attempt.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has downplayed the diplomatic alarms, saying the alliance is “not at all” in crisis and offered assurances it was focused on securing the Arctic from inroads by China and Russia, something Trump has said Greenland, and Denmark, have failed to do.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Wednesday’s meeting was aimed at understanding the U.S. position after weeks of heated rhetoric from Trump and his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who has said the U.S. has a “right” to Greenland and has notably declined to rule out military force to secure it.

“Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given,” Rasmussen said, “was to move this whole discussion, which has not become less tense since we last met, into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things.”

But Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, was more direct ahead of the Washington meeting.

“We are now facing a geopolitical crisis,” he said. “If we have to choose between the U.S. and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark, NATO, and the EU.”

On Tuesday, when was asked about the prime minister’s comments, Trump told reporters, “That’s their problem. I disagree with them. I don’t know who he is. Don’t know anything about him, but that’s going to be a big problem for him.”

Danes shocked by US rhetoric toward Greenland
Danish and Greenlandic officials have said consistently that Greenland is not for sale, even as Rubio appeared to try to temper Trump’s strong rhetoric — and defuse congressional opposition to using force — by floating the idea of the U.S. buying the island, saying Trump has talked about doing so since his first term.

A source familiar with the emerging rift said the policy pronouncement came as a shock, and that the U.S. goal to buy the island was never communicated to Copenhagen — which the source said had never received an offer of any kind.

State Department officials under Rubio had never driven a Greenland policy aimed at acquiring it, the source said, and Copenhagen had been satisfied with bilateral relations through most of 2025.

That changed in December, when Trump appointed Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry to be his special envoy to Greenland, a move designed to steer policy from the White House instead of through the State Department, the source said.

Vance, who traveled to Greenland last March, said last Thursday, “I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously.”

Following some of Trump’s comments that he wanted Greenland to be part of the U.S., which came days after he ordered the American military to attack Venezuela, Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington went to Capitol Hill to voice concerns to lawmakers.

A source familiar with those meetings said there was a tone shift among Republicans, who said they took the president’s threats seriously – not as a laughing matter.

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee emerged from his meeting with the Danish envoys foreclosing any suggestion the future of Greenland was in dispute.

“I think it has been made clear from our Danish friends and our friends in Greenland that that future does not include a negotiation,” Sen. Roger Wicker said.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of American lawmakers was crossing the Atlantic for meetings in Copenhagen at the end of this week.

Arctic security as a central argument
Trump has said the U.S. would demand sovereignty over the island for its own national security purposes, suggesting China and Russia could pose a threat to America by taking the island themselves.

“Basically, their defense is two dog sleds,” Trump said of Greenland, where the U.S. has a military base and 150 troops stationed. “In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place.”

Danish officials have pointed to new investments there and a willingness to work with NATO and the U.S. on protecting the island. The kingdom announced a $6.5 billion Arctic defense package last year.

Denmark’s top lawmaker overseeing defense said the threat to the island did not come from the east, but instead from the U.S., its NATO ally across the Atlantic.

“It is my job to be on top of security in Greenland and I get all relevant information about it,” Rasmus Jarlov wrote in a post on X. “I can assure you that your fantasies about a big threat from China and Russia against Greenland are delusional. You are the threat,” he wrote of the U.S. “Not them.”

Provocations from China and Russia have been more concentrated near Alaska than Greenland, said Connor McPartland, who noted China has minimal commercial interests on the island and there’s been no uptick in Russian or Chinese naval activity near the island.

McPartland, who was the deputy director of the Pentagon’s Office for Arctic and Global Security until September, said Trump’s attention to Arctic security comes as a needed focus on an overlooked region.

“Caring about the Arctic is not just caring about the Arctic,” he said. “It has ramifications for our global security, not just in this one little sliver of at the top of the world.”

“In my office, we’d like to say that the Arctic is the front door to the homeland, because most of the really existential threats to the United States that we think about [like a] nuclear missile … are going to fly over the pole to get to the continental United States,” said McPartland, who is now an an assistant director with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.

“It’s the fastest way to get to the United States, from Russia, from North Korea, from Iran, from China.”

A 1951 treaty between the U.S. and Greenland allows the American military, which has downsized its presence to only one base in Greenland, to upscale its footprint as it wants. During the Cold War, the U.S. had 17 military installations there.

“There aren’t really problems to be solved by the United States controlling Greenland,” said McPartland. “We can build infrastructure, we can station troops, we can operate from Greenland almost at will, as long as we recognize the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland.”

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(LONDON) — The death toll from major anti-government protests in Iran reached at least 2,000 as of Tuesday, according to data published by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), over 16 days of unrest.

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”

“I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added.

At least 10,721 people have been arrested, HRANA said in an earlier update on Tuesday, in protests that have been recorded in 606 locations in 187 cities across all 31 Iranian provinces. Among the dead are at least nine children, the group reported.

The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The group earlier on Tuesday said 646 people had been killed. The Iranian government has not provided any death tolls during the ongoing protests.

Iranian state-aligned media, meanwhile, has reported that more than 100 members of the security forces have been killed in the unrest. HRANA said that 133 military and security personnel were among those killed in the protest wave to date, along with one prosecutor.

Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran, after repeatedly warning Tehran against the use of force to suppress the ongoing protests.

“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday. “This Order is final and conclusive.”

In response to the announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the position of Beijing — which is a key trading partner for Tehran — “is very clear — there are no winners in a tariff war. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

China “supports Iran in maintaining national stability,” she added. “We have always opposed interference in other countries’ internal affairs and the use or threat of force in international relations.”

Members of Trump’s national security team — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — met Tuesday morning to discuss Iran, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump did not attend the meeting, nor was he scheduled to, she said.

One U.S. official told ABC News that among the options under consideration regarding Iran are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.

Leavitt suggested to reporters on Monday that military options remain open to Trump.

The president, she said, “is always keeping all of his options on the table and air strikes would be one of the many, many options on the table for the commander in chief. Diplomacy is always the first option for the president.”

Citing “escalating” protests and increased security measures, the State Department also urged Americans to leave Iran.

U.S. citizens should expect continued internet outages, plan alternative means of communication, and, if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or Türkiye,” a new security alert posted on the U.S. “virtual” Embassy Tehran website on Monday stated.

Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial.

As the protests spread, some have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.

The theocratic government in Tehran — headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — moved to tame the protests, with security forces reportedly using tear gas and live ammunition to disperse gatherings.

A sustained national internet outage has been in place across the country for several days. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said on Tuesday that the “nationwide internet shutdown” had been ongoing for 108 hours.

The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday that hundreds of people had been killed and thousands arrested.

Turk said he was “horrified by the mounting violence against protesters” and urged Iranian authorities to immediately halt all forms of violence and repression, and restore full access to internet and telecommunications.

Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the wave of protests as a “terrorist war” while speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran.

Also on Monday, state television broadcast footage of pro-government rallies organized in other major cities.

The footage showed crowds waving Iranian flags in Tehran’s Revolution Square. State television described the Tehran demonstration as an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism.”

Dissident figures abroad, meanwhile, have urged Iranians to take to the street and overthrow the government.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — who from his base in the U.S. has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government — on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.

“I have called the people to the streets to fight for their freedom and to overwhelm the security forces with sheer numbers,” Pahlavi wrote on X. “Last night they did that. Your threat to this criminal regime has also kept the regime’s thugs at bay. But time is of the essence.”

“Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran,” Pahlavi added.

ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian, Morgan Winsor, Meredith Deliso, Anne Flaherty, Mariam Khan, Othon Leyva, Britt Clennett, Joseph Simonetti and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.

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