{"id":96087,"date":"2026-01-10T23:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T23:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/96087\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T23:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T23:08:12","slug":"iran-activates-missile-cities-as-protests-rage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/96087\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran activates ‘missile cities’ as protests rage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the \u201cbrave people of Iran\u201d Saturday, while protesters calling for regime change continue to burn Tehran<\/a> \u2014 as fear grows that the death toll has climbed to more than 200.<\/p>\n

At least 65 people, including 50 protesters and 15 security personnel, have been killed as of Jan. 9, according to the Iranian rights group HRANA, although the true toll could be much higher.<\/p>\n

A doctor told TIME<\/a> that at least 217 protester deaths have been recorded across just six hospitals in Tehran \u2014 \u201cmost by live ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 200 people have been killed in the Iranian protests, according to a report. UGC\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic\u2019s supreme leader placed the country\u2019s security services on its highest alert Saturday. <\/p>\n

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to activate \u201cmissile cities,\u201d or giant underground caches of ballistic weapons, sources told The Telegraph. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe IRGC\u2019s underground missile cities \u2013 which were deliberately kept intact during the 12-day war \u2013 are all on high alert,\u201d the insider said, adding that any intervention by the US could trigger an \u201capocalyptic\u201d war.<\/p>\n

The IRGC warned the public Saturday that safeguarding security was a \u201cred line,\u201d and the military vowed to protect public property.<\/p>\n

Iranian officials described the rioters as \u201cterrorists\u201d who were targeting military and law enforcement bases<\/a> over the past two nights, killing several citizens and security personnel and igniting personal property.<\/p>\n

Overnight Friday, a municipal building in Karaj, west of Tehran, was torched.<\/p>\n

Protests also continued in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.<\/p>\n

Iran has been under an Internet and telephone blackout since Thursday. AP<\/p>\n

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Revolutionary Guard Corp to activate \u201cmissile cities.\u201d ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

The military\u2019s warning comes after President Trump issued support for the people of Iran and a warning to Tehran Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou better not start shooting because we\u2019ll start shooting too,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that\u2019s a very dangerous place right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio took to Twitter early Saturday morning to show his support to the protestors. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States supports the brave people of Iran, he posted to X.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The nation has been under a blackout since Iranian authorities cut off internet access and international telephone communications Thursday. <\/p>\n

The leaders of France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement on Friday that \u201cstrongly\u201d condemned the killing of protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,\u201d the trio wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran\u2019s citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRGC warned the public on Saturday that safeguarding security was a \u201cred line,\u201d and the military vowed to protect public property. AP<\/p>\n

In his latest appeal on the X, Iranian opposition leader Reza Pahlavi said<\/a>: \u201cOur goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also called on \u201cworkers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially transportation, and oil, and gas and energy,\u201d to begin a nationwide strike.<\/p>\n

The protests, which broke out Dec. 28, began over Iran\u2019s ailing economy but have since morphed into regime change, with the most significant challenge to the government in years.<\/p>\n

More than 2,500 people had been arrested over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n

With Post Wires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the \u201cbrave people of Iran\u201d Saturday, while protesters calling for regime change…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[43526,153,14670,164,9,11,10,4648,1076],"class_list":["post-96087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-ayatollah-khamenei","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-middle-east","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-protests","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}