So, what happens next, and can war be avoided?

Military intervention in Iran, where authorities launched a deadly crackdown on protesters that killed thousands, is not France’s preferred option, its armed forces minister said yesterday.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Israel yesterday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly to discuss Gaza, two people briefed on the matter said, as local authorities reported further violence in the enclave.

The commander of US forces in the Middle East has called on Syria’s president to support the transfer of thousands of jihadist prisoners from Syria to Iraq, the US military said.

Iran may lift its internet blackout in a few days

Iran appears to be using executions “as a tool of state intimidation”, the United Nations said yesterday, as it denounced a jump in capital punishment globally in 2025.

At least 5,000 people have been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, an Iranian official in the region said yesterday, citing verified figures and accusing “terrorists and armed rioters” of killing “innocent Iranians”.

"The final toll is not expected to increase sharply," the official said

The son of Iran’s late shah said Friday he was confident that mass protests would topple the Islamic republic and urged international action, as US President Donald Trump holds off on intervening in the unrest.

Iran’s deadly crackdown appears to have broadly quelled protests for now, according to a rights group and residents, as state media reported more arrests yesterday in the shadow of US threats to intervene if killing continues.

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person yesterday, the health ministry in Beirut said a day after raids that Israel said had targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

US allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, conducted intense diplomacy with Washington this week to prevent a US strike

Iran yesterday vowed to defend itself against any foreign threat, after US President Donald Trump said he would “watch it and see” about military action over the crackdown on protesters.

Donald Trump said he would "watch it and see" about threatened military action

Direct contact between the United States and Iran has broken down amid rising tensions over Tehran’s violent crackdown on protesters and growing fears of US military intervention.

The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran had asked US allies in the region to "prevent Washington from attacking Iran".

International outrage has built over the crackdown that a rights group said has likely killed thousands during protests posing one of the biggest challenges yet to Iran's clerical leadership.

Strategically, it is under pressure from Israel and the United States, its nuclear program degraded, its regional “Axis of Resistance” proxy armed groups weakened by crippling losses to allies in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

US President Donald Trump yesterday urged Iranians to continue nationwide protests, promising that help “was on its way,” as the death toll from more than two weeks of violence crossed 2,000.

The demonstrations moved from protesting economic grievances to demanding a wholesale change from the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution that ousted the shah.