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Iran warns it will retaliate if US attacks as protesters defy crackdown
Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the US, as protesters defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night.
Videos verified by the BBC and eyewitness accounts appeared to show the government ramping up its response to the protests, which have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran.
Medics at two hospitals have told the BBC that more than 100 bodies had been brought in over a two day period. The nationwide death toll is feared to be far higher.
The US has threatened to strike Iran over the killing of protesters. Iran’s parliament speaker warned that if the US attacked, Israel along with US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.
The protests were sparked in the capital, Tehran, by soaring inflation, and are now calling for an end to the clerical rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” – an offence that carries the death penalty – while Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as a “bunch of vandals” seeking to “please” Trump.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US “stands ready to help” as Iran “is looking at FREEDOM”.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the unrest.
“They have trained certain individuals inside the country and abroad, brought terrorists into the country from outside, set mosques on fire, and attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, setting the bazaar ablaze,” he said without providing evidence.
As protests intensify, the number of deaths and injuries recorded by human rights monitors continues to rise.
Footage authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify shows security officers shooting at gatherings of protesters in Tehran, in the western Kermanshah province and the southern Bushehr region.
Multiple verified videos filmed in the centre of the western city of Ilam last weekend show security forces firing shots towards Imam Khomeini Hospital, where a group of protesters had been holding a rally.
Staff at several hospitals have since told the BBC they have been overwhelmed with the injured and dead.
BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies brought to one hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night, while a health worker reported around 38 people dying at a Tehran hospital.
Sources inside Iran have told BBC Persian that plain-clothes officers have been targeting people filming and on their own at the protests.
Iran’s police chief said on state TV that the level of confrontation with protesters had been stepped up, with arrests on Saturday night of what he called “key figures”. He blamed a “significant proportion of fatalities” on “trained and directed individuals”, not security forces, but did not give specific details.
More than 2,500 people have been arrested since protests began on 28 December, according to a human rights group.
The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has imposed an internet shutdown since Thursday, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.
Nonetheless, some footage has emerged.
Several videos, confirmed as recent by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
Masked protesters can be seen taking cover behind bins and bonfires, while a row of security forces is seen in the distance. A vehicle that appears to be a bus is engulfed in flames.
Multiple gunshots and what sounds like banging on pots and pans can be heard.
A figure standing on a nearby footbridge appears to fire multiple gunshots in several directions as a couple of people take cover behind a fence.
In Tehran, a verified video from Saturday night shows protesters also taking over the streets in the Gisha district.
Other verified videos from the capital show a large group of protesters and the sound of banging on pots in Punak Square, and a crowd of protesters marching on a road and calling for the end of the clerical establishment in the Heravi district.
Internet access in Iran is largely limited to a domestic intranet, with restricted links to the outside world. But during the current round of protests, authorities have for the first time severely restricted that too.
An expert told BBC Persian the shutdown is more severe than during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in 2022.Alireza Manafi, an internet researcher, said the only likely way to connect to the outside world was via Starlink satellite, but warned users to exercise caution as such connections could potentially be traced by the government.
Trump did not elaborate on what the US was considering. However, he has been briefed on options for military strikes on Iran, an official told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.
The Wall Street Journal reports these were “preliminary discussions” and that there was no “imminent threat” to Iran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday about the possibility of US intervention in Iran, they told CBS.
On Sunday, Reza Pahlavi , the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah, who lives in the US and whose return protesters have been calling for, told demonstrators that Trump had “carefully observed your indescribable bravery” in a social media post.
“Your compatriots around the world are proudly shouting your voice,” he wrote, pledging: “I know that I will soon be by your side.”
Pahlavi claimed the Islamic Republic was facing a “severe shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the people”. The BBC could not verify these claims.
He encouraged people to continue protesting on Sunday evening, but to stay in groups or with crowds and not “endanger your lives”.
(BBC)
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, the Foreign Office has said.
Two years on from the death of Navalny at a Siberian penal colony, Britain and its allies have blamed the Kremlin following analysis of material samples found on his body.
There is no innocent explanation for the toxin, called epibatidine, being found in samples taken from Navalny’s body, the Foreign Office said.
Speaking from the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.”
Cooper met with Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya at the conference this weekend.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat,” Cooper said at the event.
“By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition”, she added.
The UK has been joined by Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany in accusing Russia of the poisoning.
The Foreign Office said the UK has informed the Organisation on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s alleged breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalny – an anti-corruption campaigner and Russia’s most vociferous opposition leader – died suddenly in jail on 16 February 2024 at the age of 47.
In 2020 he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. He underwent treatment in Germany, and was arrested at the airport upon his return to Russia.
[BBC]
It was another nervy affair against an associate nation. But England’s Super Eight hopes remain on course after a five-wicket victory over Scotland in Eden Gardens, moving them up to second in Group C of this T20 World Cup with a game to play.
Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 off 41 deliveries – his fourth T20I fifty – ultimately quelled a testy chase of 153, which began with openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler falling inside the first two overs to nibbling seamers Brandon McMullen and Brad Currie.
Banton’s arrival triggered a vital 66-run stand with Jacob Bethell, and he was similarly engaging with Sam Curran for their partnership of 46 which brought the runs required below the number of balls remaining. Having managed just 4 from nine deliveries across knocks against Nepal and West Indies, Banton, who struck four fours and three sixes, watched on as Will Jacks smashed Brad Wheal for a six down the ground and then pulled the quick behind square to seal victory with 10 balls to spare.
Much like Nepal in England’s opening victory, Scotland will rue missed opportunities with the bat. They were dictating terms midway through the 13th over, with skipper Richie Berrington leading a 71-run stand with Tom Bruce. Berrington’s hard-hitting against spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson which made amends for a stuttering powerplay of 42 for 3 after losing the toss. Jofra Archer was the key aggressor in those first six overs, finishing with 2 for 24 as he ticked over to 50 T20I dismissals.
When Dawson pocketed Bruce (24) and Rashid did for Berrington (49) in the space of four balls, England did not relent. Only four boundaries were scored in the remainder of the innings, with three of them to Oliver Davidson, which included a towering six over cow corner off Archer on his way to a T20I career-best 20 not out.
Having left runs out there, Scotland were always going to be up against it. Though they were gifted wickets, such as Harry Brook’s dismal flick over his shoulder to short fine leg for just 4, Banton’s brutal striking took England home in this first completed T20I between these Auld enemies.
Brief scores:
England 155 for 5 in 18.2 overs (Jacob Bethell 32, Tom Banton 63*, Sam Curran 28, Will Jacks 16*; Brandon McMullen 1-23, Brad Currie 1-21, Brad Wheal 1-23, Michael Leask 1-33, Oliver Davidson 1-12) beat Scotland 152 in 19.4 overs (Michael Jones 33, Richie Berrington 49, Tom Bruce 24, Oliver Davidson 20*; Jofra Archer 2-24, Jamie Overton 1-23, Sam Curran 1-33, Adil Rashid 3-36, Liam Dawson 2-34) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
The landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation have been extended till 0600 hrs on 15th February 2026.
Accordingly,
The Level II [AMBER] warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Walapane and Nildandahinna in the Nuwar Eliya district and the
Level I [YELLOW] warning issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara in the Kandy district have been extended.
Russia killed opposition leader Alexei Navalny using dart frog toxin, UK says
Tom Banton 63* sets up nervy win for England
Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya extended
Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts
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