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Trump says he and US military weighing 'strong options' on Iran

Jan 11 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is weighing a range of responses to escalating unrest in Iran, including possible military options, as massive protests continue to roil the country.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Tom Hogue)

A 3D printed miniature of U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian flag are seen in this illustration taken January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Deaths from Iran protests reach more than 500, rights group says

By Parisa Hafezi, Rami Ayyub and Maayan Lubell

DUBAI/JERUSALEM, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, 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.

Smoke rises as protesters gather amid evolving anti-government unrest at Vakilabad highway in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, released on January 10, 2026, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS

Some US senators skeptical about military options for Iran

By Matt Tracy

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Some U.S. lawmakers in both major parties on Sunday questioned whether military action against Iran is the best approach for the United States as Iranian authorities face growing turmoil.

U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days has left open the possibility of American intervention in Iran, where the biggest anti-government protests in years have led to the Revolutionary Guards blaming unrest on terrorists and vowing to safeguard the governing system.

Demonstrators and activists rally in support of nationwide protests in Iran, outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 10, 2026. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Demonstrators in London, Paris, Istanbul back Iran protests

Demonstrators rallied in London, Paris and Istanbul on Sunday in support of protests in Iran that have been countered with a deadly crackdown by the country's security forces.

London demonstrations, initially in front of the Iranian embassy and later in front of the British prime minister's residence, grew to several thousand as the day progressed.

"We want revolution, change the regime," Afsi, a 38-year-old Iranian, who declined to give her last name, told AFP at the rally in front of Downing Street.

A protestor in London burns an image of Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a rally in support of demonstrators in Iran

Trump briefing on Iran options planned for Tuesday, WSJ reports

Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to be briefed by senior officials in his administration on Tuesday on specific options to respond to the protests in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing U.S. officials.

The meeting will be a discussion about possible next steps including military strikes, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on Iran's government and boosting anti-government sources online, the Journal reported.

The White House said it had no comment on the report.

U.S. President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Iran protest deaths rise to more than 500, rights group says

DUBAI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Deaths from two weeks of protests in Iran have risen to more than 500, U.S.-based rights group HRANA said on Sunday.

Its latest spreadsheet - based on activists inside and outside Iran - showed 490 protesters and 48 security personnel killed, plus 10,000 arrests.

Reuters could not independently confirm the figures and Iranian authorities have not given tolls from the unrest it blames on "rioters" being encouraged by foreign powers.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom)

Smoke rises as protesters gather amid evolving anti-government unrest in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, released on January 10, 2026, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS

Syrians in Kurdish area of Aleppo pick up pieces after clashes

Residents of a Kurdish neighbourhood in Syria's second city of Aleppo passed through government checkpoints Sunday to find blackened walls, destroyed vehicles and debris-littered streets as they returned home after days of deadly clashes.

While they picked up the pieces in the city's Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood, the city's only other Kurdish-majority district Sheikh Maqsud still remained off limits after suffering the worst of the fighting.

Many locals like wheelchair-bound Abdul Qader Satar returned to Ashrafiyeh on Sunday to inspect their homes after days of violence.

Some residents were able to return on Sunday to their neighbourhoods in Aleppo, where Kurdish fighters had clashed with government forces for days

Turkey bars Iranians from protesting outside Istanbul consulate

Turkey on Sunday prevented Iranian nationals from protesting outside Iran's consulate in Istanbul, with the area cordoned off and crowds blocked by police.

Iran has been roiled by street protests since December 28 that have taken hold nationwide, challenging the theocratic government that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution.

Turkey, a majority Sunni Muslim country, shares a border of around 500 kilometres (300 miles) and three land crossings with its Shiite neighbour Iran. It hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and around 5,000 refugees.

Demonstrators gathered under steady rain outside Iran's consulate in Istanbul

Syria govt forces take control of Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods

Syria's government was in full control of Aleppo on Sunday after taking over the city's Kurdish neighbourhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish autonomous areas following days of deadly clashes.

Residents of the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood, the first of two areas to fall to the Syrian army, began returning to their homes to inspect the damage, finding shrapnel and broken glass littering the streets.

The violence started earlier this week after negotiations stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the country's new government.

Some residents were able to return on Sunday to their neighbourhoods in Aleppo, where Kurdish fighters had clashed with government forces for days

Israeli fire kills three people in Gaza, tension rises

CAIRO, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians in two separate incidents across the enclave, local health authorities said, as tension rises over continued violence.

Medics said one Palestinian was killed in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, in an area under Palestinian control, while two others were killed in the town of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Younis, an area Israel still occupies.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the two incidents.

Mourners hug each other during the funeral of Palestinians who, according to medics, were killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer