Iranians able to make calls out as internet blackout remains
Iranians were able to make calls out of Iran for the first time in days on Tuesday as the regime relaxed some of its restrictions.
People in Tehran told the Associated Press that they were able to make calls abroad but not receive them.
SMS text messaging was still down, and internet users could not access anything abroad.
There were local connections to certain government-approved websites, people said.
As a reminder, the regime assured on Monday that it had shut down the protest situation. Trump said that Iran was keen to negotiate after he threatened renewed strikes.
James Reynolds13 January 2026 09:45
Pahlavi voices support for US intervention
Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi has voiced support for a US intervention in Iran as the regime scales up its crackdown.
Pahlavi told CBS News on Monday: “We need action to be taken.”
“The best way to ensure that there will be less people killed in Iran is to intervene sooner, so this regime finally collapses and puts an end to all the problems that we are facing,” he said.
Reza Pahlavi has lived in exile since his father was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution (AP)
James Reynolds13 January 2026 09:30
Oil pushes two month high – but remains historically low
Brent Oil futures are trading more than 1 per cent higher today than yesterday – that’s quite a notable jump in oil market terms.
On the one hand, it’s a bigger reaction than the markets showed when the Venezuelan leader Maduro was captured. And it also means the price has spiked to a two-month high, since tipping past $65 in mid-November. Right now, it’s at $64.65.
But zoom the lens out further and the price is still depressed compared to recent historical norms: above $100 for almost the entire second half of 2022, and still between $70-80 for all of 2024.
There has been a steady climb since mid-December, though, and we’re up 5 per cent since then already.
Karl Matchett13 January 2026 09:22
Trump ‘weighing strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme’
Donald Trump is said to be weighing fresh strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme, according to a report.
US officials told the New York Times that the president is considering a wider range of strike options than previously reported. This could include new strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile sites.
Any attack is “at least several days away”, the outlet reported, citing an official. They said that the president is also still exploring diplomatic options.
Trump is said to be weighing attacks on Iran (Getty Images)
James Reynolds13 January 2026 08:56
Iran refutes talk of regime collapse – but blackout remains
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats in Tehran on Monday that “the situation is now under total control”.
Iran has increasingly sought to downplay unrest while framing opposition as ‘rioting’ spurred on by foreign adversaries. A sweeping internet blackout has limited communication between dissenting Iranians and the outside world.
In a sign that the situation remains fragile, Iran’s top cyberspace authority said, also on Monday, that the restrictions would remain in place until officials say otherwise.
Protests in Tehran on 8 January (Getty Images)
Mohammad Amin Aqamiri said that “the time to return to normal conditions will be announced in the future”, in comments reported in Iranian media.
Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring group NetBlocks, said the blackout, which began on 8 January, was still in place on Monday.
He said he had heard from some people who were still able to use Elon Musk’s Starlink service to communicate, though reports suggested Iran was working to disrupt it with jammers.
James Reynolds13 January 2026 08:42
Latest pictures to emerge from Iran
Here are some of the latest pictures which have emerged from Iran, where a regime-imposed internet blackout has made communications between Iranians and the outside world very difficult.
Images and footage have been very slow to leak out of Iran, where there is an internet blackout (Reuters)
Fires are lit as protesters rally on 8 January 2026 in Tehran, Iran (Getty Images)
Iranian demonstrators gather in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8 (WANA)
At least 646 have been reported dead (WANA)
Alex Croft13 January 2026 08:17
Video report: 23-year-old Student shot in back of the head and buried at the roadside
Alex Croft13 January 2026 08:04
UK and US warn citizens in Iran are at ‘significant risk of arrest’
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has advised all British citizens against travel to Iran.
It warns that British nationals are at a “very high” risk of arrest and that even just having a British passport or connections to the UK can be enough reason for Iranian authorities to detain you.
Those who are near the protests are at “serious” risk of arrests, it added.
The US Department of State Consular Affairs also highlighted the escalating protests and said US citizens in Iran should consider leaving by land to Armenia or Turkey.
“US nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest, and detention in Iran,” the department said on its TravelGov account on X.
A picture of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is used to light a cigarette after being set alight by a protester outside the Iranian embassy, in London (Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Alex Croft13 January 2026 07:52
Trump ‘leaning towards military strikes in Iran’
Donald Trump is leaning towards military action in Iran as he continues weighing up a response to a deadly crackdown on protests which has killed at least 646, Axios is reporting.
A White House official told the outlet that he had not made a final decision and is considering talks, after contacts were opened between Tehran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said earlier that communications between himself and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were ongoing, but it is unclear whether any progress has been made.
Trump is still weighing up his options (AP)
Alex Croft13 January 2026 07:39
What have Washington and Tehran said about ongoing contacts?
We heard on Monday that Iran and the US had opened a line of communication, specifically between Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Araghchi said Tehran was studying ideas proposed by Washington, but that these were “incompatible” with US threats to carry out military action in Iran in response to its repression of the protests.
“Communications between Witkoff and me continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing,” he told Al Jazeera.
Sources told Axios that Witkoff and Araghchi held talks in an effort by Ira to deescalate with the US – or at least buy time before Trump orders any military action.
Alex Croft13 January 2026 07:21