Updated January 15, 2026 at 10:24 AM AKST
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy appeared increasingly smothered Thursday, a week after authorities shut the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that activists say has killed at least 2,637 people.
The prospect of U.S. retaliation for the protesters' deaths still hung over the region, though President Donald Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying the killing appeared to be ending. The White House stressed that "all options remain on the table."
Meanwhile, the U.S. announced new sanctions on Iranian officials accused of suppressing the protests, which began late last month over the country's faltering economy and the collapse of its currency. The Group of Seven industrialized democracies and the European Union said they too were looking at new sanctions to ratchet up the pressure on Iran's theocratic government.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran for Thursday afternoon at the request of the United States.
In Iran's capital, Tehran, witnesses said recent mornings showed no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris in the streets. The sound of gunfire, which had been intense for several nights, has also faded.
Iranian state media has announced wave after wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls "terrorists" while also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, which offer the only way to get videos and images out to the internet.
"Since Jan. 8, we saw a full-fledged war, and anybody who was in the gathering since then is a criminal," said Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, according to a report Wednesday from the judiciary's Mizan news agency.
Iranian state media broadcast a roster of damage from the protests, which it called a "terrorist operation," including damage to hundreds of stores and public buildings, scores of cars and ambulances and several "heritage sites." including mosques and shrines.
China's foreign ministry said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Chinese counterpart that the situation in the country was now stable.
But as Iran tries to assert control at home, it has signaled worries about threats from abroad, including the United States, which has threatened military action over the killing of peaceful demonstrators. Tensions soared after Trump's comment Tuesday that "help is on its way" to Iranian protesters.
Airspace shut
The Islamic Republic shut down its airspace for hours early Thursday without explanation, something it has done in previous rounds of attacks between it and Israel, as well as during the 12-day war in June. The U.S. moved some personnel from Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base while warning diplomats in Kuwait to stay away from military bases where American troops are stationed. Britain closed its Tehran embassy and withdrew British staff from Iran.
The Israeli military said it had raised the level of readiness for possible missile attacks, though guidelines for Israeli civilians, including the size of gatherings and whether people needed to stay within a certain distance of a shelter, were unchanged.
The Iranian airspace closure lasted for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key east-west flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired, and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.
Even before the closure, several international airlines had reduced or suspended services to Iran, "and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace," said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. "The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic."
In the past, Iran has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board.
Iran protests spark reaction abroad
Videos of demonstrations have stopped coming out of Iran, likely signaling the slowdown of their pace under the heavy security force presence in major cities. In the meantime, protests against Iran have been held around the world as global attention has focused on the crackdown.
Trump made a series of statements that left unclear what action, if any, the U.S. would take. A day after threatening action, he said Wednesday that he had it on good authority that the executions would be halted. On Thursday, he hailed as "good news" reports that a protester's death sentence had been lifted.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that 800 executions had been scheduled to take place. She said the president and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be "grave consequences" if more protesters were killed.
"All options remain on the table for the president," she said.
Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, urged the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.
Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: "My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don't have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war."
Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon, though Araghchi said "there is no plan for hanging."
The apparent lowering of the temperature followed lobbying by Middle Eastern governments, which urged the Trump administration not to strike Iran out of fear that an attack could explode into all-out war.
New sanctions on senior Iranians
Among those hit with U.S. sanctions Thursday was the secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for National Security, whom the Treasury Department accuses of being one of the first officials to call for violence against protesters. The Group of Seven, of which the U.S. is a member, also warned they could impose more sanctions if Iran's crackdown continues.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-nation bloc was looking at strengthening sanctions "to push forward that this regime comes to an end and that there is change."
The clampdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,637, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The figure reported Thursday is an increase of 22 from the figure a day earlier, and the organization says the number will likely continue to climb. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The U.S.-based agency, founded 20 years ago, has been accurate throughout multiple years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.
With communications greatly limited in Iran, the AP has been unable to independently confirm the group's toll. The Iranian government has not provided casualty figures.
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