- Iran facing its biggest anti-government protests in years
- Trump has used leverage of tariffs throughout his second term against many nations
- Trump weighs further options on US action against Iran
World
Syrian insurgents reach gates of Damascus, threatening decades-long Assad regime
Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
The loss of Homs was a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.
The pro-government Sham FM news outlet reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies withdrew from the city, adding that rebels entered parts of it.
The insurgency announced later Saturday that it had taken over Homs. The city’s capture was a major victory for the rebels, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer.
TRUMP URGES US TO STAY OUT OF SYRIAN CIVIL WAR, BLAMING OBAMA FOR FAILURE AS ISLAMISTS CLOSE IN ON CAPITAL
The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.
For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus.
The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.
The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad’s erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war.
The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.”
In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria’s border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.
Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price.
“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions.
“People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.”
It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution.
Syrian opposition fighters remove a government Syrian flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria Syria, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Assad’s status
Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he was performing his duties in Damascus.
He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Separately, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said the Biden administration had no intention of intervening there.
Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015 and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections.
Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria.
In a statement, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people.
The insurgents’ march
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.
A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus.
HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.
The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city.
Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017.
To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra, including the main Baath City, activists said.
Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces.
The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists.” The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south.
The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011.
Diplomacy in Doha
The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels.
Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process.
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Iranian state television acknowledged Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has lost “a lot of martyrs” in ongoing anti-government protests sweeping the country, a report said.
The development comes as at least 2,000 people have been killed in the demonstrations, according to an activist group. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency announced that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces. Other reports say the death toll is over 3,000, with the real number likely to be even higher.
A news anchor on Iranian state TV read a statement claiming “armed and terrorist groups” led the country “to present a lot of martyrs to God,” The Associated Press reported. Iranian state TV said officials will hold a funeral Wednesday for the “martyrs and security defenders” who have died in the protests.
Iran’s regime has been trying to crack down on the protests, which began in late December with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants demonstrating against accelerating inflation and the collapse of the rial. The unrest soon spread to universities and provincial cities, with young men clashing with security forces.
US OPENS NEW AIR DEFENSE OPERATIONS CELL AT QATAR BASE THAT IRAN TARGETED IN RETALIATORY ATTACK
Members of the Iranian police attend a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Stringer/WANA/Reuters)
“The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday.
The U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran issued a warning earlier today telling American citizens who are still in the country to leave immediately.
President Donald Trump later urged the people of Iran to “take over” the country’s institutions, saying he has canceled all meetings with the Iranian regime until its crackdown on unrest ends.
IRAN’S ‘DISTINCTIVE’ DRONE DEPLOYMENT SEES DEATH TOLL SOAR AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
Trump made the announcement on social media, vowing that those responsible for killing anti-regime demonstrators will “pay a big price.” Iran had previously claimed it was in contact with U.S. officials amid the protests.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
Iranian demonstrators gather in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value, in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2026. (Stringer/WANA/Reuters)
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“I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” he added.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Efrat Lachter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Over the course of 2025, US President Donald Trump was consistently vocal about his desire to bag the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming to have ended eight wars since returning to office — an assertion which has been contested by war experts.
Fast-forward to 2026, and the frenzy around the topical matter has already resurfaced, after Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Machado said she wanted to “share” her award with Trump following the US’s capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro on 3 January.
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him [Trump] that the Venezuelan people […] want to give it [the Nobel Peace Prize] to him and share it with him”, Machado — who was awarded the prize for promoting the democratic rights of Venezuelans — told Fox News on 5 January.
Trump initially said it would be “very tough” for Machado to play a role in Venezuela’s future government due to a lack of “support or the respect within the country”, instead supporting acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice president under Maduro.
However, Trump began to change his tune after Machado offered to share the Nobel Peace Prize, qualifying her willingness to share the prize as a “great honour”.
What are the facts?
In reality, only the Nobel Prize Committee can decide if a prize is shared, and this can be for up to a maximum of three individuals. Meanwhile, the peace prize specifically can also be given to organisations, as well as individuals.
On 9 January, the Nobel Prize Committee issued a statement honing in on the facts: once a Nobel Prize is announced, the decision is final. After this point, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred.
Ahead of Machado’s trip to the US to meet with Trump on Thursday, journalists asked Trump whether her role in a future Venezuelan government could be influenced by the offer to share the Nobel Peace Prize. In response, Trump indicated that it could be.
In theory, nothing is barring Trump from being nominated and potentially receiving the prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, typically made up of five members appointed by Norway’s parliament, shortlists nominations and consults experts before awarding the peace prize.
Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel said in his will that it should go to the person who has done the most for “fraternity between nations” and the abolition of standing armies.
Trump has received nominations in the past, and other US presidents have won it before.
Most recently, Barack Obama received it in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” — a decision Trump has repeatedly criticised.
WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on any trade with the U.S., as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.
“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Sign up here.
Tariffs are paid by U.S. importers of goods from those countries. Iran, a member of the OPEC oil producing group, has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for years. It exports much of its oil to China, with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.
“This Order is final and conclusive,” Trump said without providing any further detail.
There was no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use to impose the tariffs, or whether they would be aimed at all of Iran’s trading partners. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese embassy in Washington criticized Trump’s approach, saying China will take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests and opposed “any illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”
“China’s position against the indiscriminate imposition of tariffs is consistent and clear. Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners, and coercion and pressure cannot solve problems,” a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Washington said on X.
Japan and South Korea, which agreed on trade deals with the U.S. last year, said on Tuesday they are closely monitoring the development.
“We … plan to take any necessary measures once the specific actions of the U.S. government become clear,” South Korea’s trade ministry said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he signs executive orders and proclamations in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 5, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters that Tokyo will “carefully examine the specific content of any measures as they become clear, as well as their potential impact on Japan, and will respond appropriately.”
Iran, which had a 12-day war with U.S. ally Israel last year and whose nuclear facilities the U.S. military bombed in June, is seeing its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.
Trump has said the U.S. may meet Iranian officials and that he was in contact with Iran’s opposition, while piling pressure on its leaders, including threatening military action.
Tehran said on Monday it was keeping communication channels with Washington open as Trump considered how to respond to the situation in Iran, which has posed one of the gravest tests of clerical rule in the country since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Demonstrations evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to defiant calls for the fall of the deeply entrenched clerical establishment. U.S.-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 599 people – 510 protesters and 89 security personnel – since the protests began on December 28.
While air strikes were one of many alternatives open to Trump, “diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
During the course of his second term in office, Trump has often threatened and imposed tariffs on other countries over their ties with U.S. adversaries and over trade policies that he has described as unfair to Washington.
Trump’s trade policy is under legal pressure as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering striking down a broad swathe of Trump’s existing tariffs.
Iran exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, according to World Bank’s most recent data.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Trevor Hunnicutt and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Don Durfee, Lincoln Feast and Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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