Washington [US], January 11: US President Donald Trump threatened military action in Iran, while in Syria, government forces and Kurdish factions fought for control of Aleppo despite a ceasefire.
New protests erupted in several Iranian cities late on January 9th , despite government forces' efforts to maintain order.
According to AFP, protests took place in the Sadatabad district northwest of Tehran, as well as in the cities of Mashhad, Tabriz, and Qom. Simultaneously, the monitoring organization Netblocks reported that internet connectivity across Iran had been cut off for at least 36 hours. The Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications announced that the disconnection was carried out by authorized security agencies in light of the current situation in the country. After nearly two weeks of protests, human rights organizations claim that dozens have died, while the Iranian authorities have not released an official figure.
US-Iran war of words
Early yesterday morning, US President Donald Trump reiterated his warning that he would attack Iran if the Tehran government threatened the lives of protesters, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media saying the US supports the brave Iranian people. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk expressed deep concern about the violence and the internet outage, calling for an independent and transparent investigation into all deaths during the protests. The leaders of the UK, France, and Germany issued a joint statement condemning the killing of protesters and calling on the Iranian government to exercise restraint.
Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared no compromise and accused the protesters of representing foreign opposition groups. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US and Israel of direct interference, turning the peaceful protest into a divisive and violent act. Araghchi also stated that threats of military intervention from outside were unlikely "because previous attempts have all failed completely."
Israel has not commented, while the US State Department called Araghchi's remarks "a delusional act" aimed at distracting public attention from the enormous challenges facing Iran. Meanwhile, the Iranian military yesterday declared it would defend national interests, strategic infrastructure, and public property, warning citizens to be vigilant against enemy plots.
Conflicting information
In Syria, government forces announced yesterday that they had completed a security sweep operation in the Sheikh Maksoud district of Aleppo, where they had clashed with Kurdish-led SDF opposition forces in recent days. Fighting broke out on January 6th as the two sides failed to finalize the integration of the SDF, which controls and maintains autonomy in northeastern Syria, into the state armed forces.
The Syrian government announced a ceasefire on January 9 to pave the way for the safe withdrawal of opposition forces from the remaining districts of Aleppo to the northeast. Government forces attacked Sheikh Maksoud in the early hours of January 10 after the ceasefire ended, according to Reuters. The Syrian Ministry of Defense said yesterday that it had taken control of the area but advised residents to stay indoors as some Kurdish fighters were still holding out.
The Kurdish side issued a statement denying the report and emphasized that they are still resisting at Sheikh Maksoud. The Syrian army's takeover of Sheikh Maksoud would officially end Kurdish control of parts of Aleppo since the civil war began in 2011. Fighting over the past week has killed at least nine civilians and displaced more than 140,000.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper