Iran updates: Airspace temporarily closed to most flights

The US Embassy in Doha has advised its personnel and all other US citizens in Qatar to limit non-essential travel to Al Udeid Air Base.

The base houses US Air Force as well as other foreign forces.

"The US Mission to Qatar continues to monitor the situation," the embassy said on its website. "At this time, US Embassy staffing and operations are unchanged, and consular services continue as normal."

News reports earlier suggested that the US had started withdrawing troops from key military bases in the Middle East as a precaution, including from Qatar.

Iran has "no plan for hanging" people, the country's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, told Fox News in an interview, when asked about the anti-government protests in the country.

"There is no plan ‍for hanging," the ​foreign ​minister said in an interview on the "Special Report with Bret Baier" show.

"I can tell you, I'm confident that there is no plan for hanging," Araghchi said, stressing that no hanging would take place "today or tomorrow."

Araqchi's statements follow comments by US President Donald Trump to reporters at the Oval Office, saying he received assurances from "very important sources on the other side" that the killings had stopped and that planned executions would not go ahead.

"We've been told on good authority, and I hope it's true," Trump said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's judiciary had signaled that swift trials and executions are coming for people detained in nationwide protests.

The British Embassy in Tehran will operate remotely as it temporarily closes its doors amid the ongoing crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.

The UK Foreign Office said British staff have been withdrawn "due to the security situation."

The British government advised British citizens against all travel to Iran, as authorities continue to crack down on protesters amid an internet blackout. Rights groups report thousands of protesters have died so far.

"If you are a British national already in Iran, either resident or visitor, carefully consider your presence there and the risks you take by staying," the Foreign Office said on its website, warning that "British and British-Iranian dual nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention."

In comments to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said "very important ‍sources" in Iran informed him there are no plans for large-scale executions of protesters and that the "killing in Iran has stopped."

Trump did not share the source of the information and added he would "find out" later if it was true.

"I hope it's true," he said. "Who knows?"

More than 3,400 protesters have been killed so far in weeks of unrest in Iran, as the Islamic regime cracks down on the greatest threat to its rule in decades.

On Monday, Trump warned that the US would take "very ‌strong action" if Iranian authorities continued to kill demonstrators. Last week, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Council officials began meeting to come up with options for Trump ranging from diplomacy to military strikes.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump did not rule out US military action.

"We are going to watch what the process is," Trump said, adding that his administration received a "very good statement by people that are aware of what's going on."

His comments came after Iranian authorities indicated they would expedite trials, and subsequent executions, of detained protesters.

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Human rights organizations fear the number of people killed during protests in Iran could quickly rise as thousands of protesters now held in prisons and detention centers may be at imminent risk of execution.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said on Wednesday that at least 3,428 protesters were killed by Iranian security forces during the height of unrest between January 8 to 12.

The IHR said the jump in the verified death toll came with new information from Iran's health and education ministries. At least 10,000 protesters have been arrested.

Earlier Wednesday, another rights group, the US based Human Rights Activists News Agency, said the number of dead numbered at least 2,500.

Gauging the actual death toll from outside Iran is difficult due to an ongoing communications blackout. The IHR has warned that the new death toll represents "absolute minimum" and could be much higher.

Both figures are far higher than the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades.

In a press release, the IHR cited eyewitness accounts of protesters in the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea who were killed by security forces as they raised their hands in surrender. The NGO also said it has received reports of wounded protesters being "finished off" by regime security forces, both on the streets and in hospitals.

On Wednesday, the head of the Islamic Republic's judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, warned of trials and executions of demonstrators.

"The international community must take these threats extremely seriously, because officials of the Islamic Republic committed similar crimes in the 1980s in order to hold onto power," IHR head Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement.

"If the international community does not act in time, thousands more will be at risk of execution," he added.

The United States has begun withdrawing some personnel from key military bases in the Middle East as a precaution amid heightened regional tensions.

A US official told Reuters that the move involves select locations and was taken as a preventive step.

The disclosure followed comments by a senior Iranian official, who said earlier on Wednesday that Tehran had warned neighboring countries hosting US forces it would strike American bases if Washington launches an attack.

A US official separately said some personnel at a major US base in Qatar have been advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening.

Speaking to the AP news agency on condition of anonymity, the official said the move was precautionary and declined to give details on whether the evacuation was mandatory, who it applied to, or how many people were affected, citing operational security.

Qatar said on Wednesday that the measures were being "undertaken in response to the current regional tensions."

Germany has said it is reviewing which companies are still trading with Iran as tensions rise and the United States issues new threats.

Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said on Wednesday in Berlin that the government would take a closer look at trade volumes and the types of goods involved.

"The federal government will take a closer look at these trade volumes," Kornelius said, adding that officials would also examine "to what extent we ourselves can increase pressure through expanding sanctions."

He said no final conclusions had yet been reached.

A spokeswoman for the economy ministry said German-Iranian trade totaled about €1.5 billion in 2024, with Iran ranking only 79th among Germany's trading partners, between Kuwait and the Cayman Islands.

From January to November 2025, exports to Iran fell a further 25.0% to about €871 million, less than 0.1% of total German exports, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

In an exclusive interview with DW, Iranian human rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called for urgent measures to prevent the killing of civilians in Iran.

Her remarks follow a recent online post by US President Donald Trump in which he called on Iranians to "keep protesting" and pledged that "help is on its way."

Ebadi said the US should disrupt the regime's communications.

"By using jamming technology, they can interfere with the regime's television and radio towers. 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."

"Another option is the possibility of highly targeted actions against Iran's supreme leader and senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard."

Ebadi also dismissed concerns that US strikes could escalate into a regional war, saying that Iran was already in a "full-scale war."

Iran's foreign minister has spoken by phone with his French counterpart after sharp European criticism of Tehran's violent crackdown on demonstrators.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Tuesday evening call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot focused on recent "events," according to a post on Telegram on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Barrot strongly condemned the deadly suppression of mass protests in Iran and summoned Iran's ambassador in Paris.

Speaking in parliament, he described the demonstrations as a "call for freedom" and a "peaceful revolt" that was being crushed in an inhumane way.

Several other European countries have also summoned Iranian diplomats in protest over the crackdown.

Araghchi defended Iran's security forces during the call, saying demonstrations that began peacefully had turned violent because of "trained terrorist elements." He also alleged foreign interference in Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is a powerful military and ideological force that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rather than to Iran's elected government. But just how powerful are they?

The European Union should move immediately to step up pressure on Iran and not wait for action from the United States, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has said.

In an interview with the broadcaster Euronews, Metsola said tougher sanctions and designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as terrorists should not be delayed, adding that "the regime is on its last legs."

Metsola called on EU leaders to intensify pressure as Iranian authorities crack down on protesters, saying the days of "dictators will come to an end in 2026."

Metsola echoed comments by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has suggested the Iranian leadership may be entering its "final weeks" and is "effectively finished" if it can survive only through force.

"How that happens, that's not for us to say; it's for the Iranian people to determine," Metsola said. "But we must support them. If not now, when?"

Iran's security apparatus has reported the arrest of alleged protest leaders in the west of the country.

State media said intelligence forces from the Revolutionary Guards had detained several people described as "main figures responsible for insecurity" in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.

The remote province saw some of the fiercest clashes at the start of nationwide protests in late December.

After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, the city of Lordegan was hit by severe unrest that left numerous people dead.

Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari is a region that has long suffered from neglect by the state, and distrust of the government is rife.

Two men have torn down Iran's flag from its mast at the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, German police said.

Officers said the incident happened Tuesday evening and was linked to ongoing protests against Iran's government.

Police said the men, aged 28 and 33, removed the flag and then tried to raise two historic Iranian flags, but failed to do so. They refused to leave the embassy grounds until security staff used pepper spray, after which police detained them on the sidewalk outside.

The incident comes amid more than two weeks of protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic's authoritarian system.

Berlin police said a group carrying historic Iranian flags had repeatedly approached the embassy before the incident.

Abolished after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the flag features a lion holding a sword with a sun rising behind it.