Name: Iran tightens grip after protests as regional powers urge restraint
Uploaded: 2026-01-16T01:31:30.297Z
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: The Iranian regime has appeared to tamp down anti-government protests that have swept across the country in recent weeks. Thousands are estimated to have been killed in the crackdown. Elizabeth Palmer has the latest.

The Iranian regime has appeared to tamp down anti-government protests that have swept across the country in recent weeks. Thousands are estimated to have been killed in the crackdown. Elizabeth Palmer has the latest.

Tehran

The Iranian government has re-established control following widespread protests that resulted in thousands of deaths during a harsh crackdown. Universities remain closed and internet access is still restricted for most citizens, while the regime enforces a return to normalcy and suppresses public displays of grief.

State media has focused on honoring police casualties and attributing unrest to foreign actors. Meanwhile, Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have played a diplomatic role in urging restraint, warning that any military action against Iran could jeopardize regional security and economic stability.

Iran tightens grip after protests as regional powers urge restraint

To Iran tonight, it appears the government has largely quieted protests for now after a brutal crackdown that killed thousands, even as the threat of U.S. military involvement remains. More now from Elizabeth Palmer in London. Tony, the regime has now re-established order, though universities remain closed and the Internet is still down for most people. The killing of protesters over the weekend is a national trauma. But it is over, at least for now. The regime is enforcing business as usual. Shopkeepers have to open up or be fined, and citizens know it's safer to hide their grief in public. On state television, the propaganda machine is in high gear. It broadcasts the funeral procession of police officers who died in the unrest, which it blamed on Israel and the CIA. When the protests erupted and President Trump hinted that America might intervene, a Gulf official tells CBS News that four Arab states, Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, helped lower the tension. They warned that a strike on Iran could endanger both security and economic interests in the region.

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Iran's internet was cut off late last Thursday, apparently in an attempt by government authorities to prevent protesters from organizing and uploading videos for the outside world to see.

Breakdown