Iran warns of retaliation if Trump strikes, US withdraws some personnel from regional bases
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The death toll from Iran's unrest climbed to almost 2,600, a rights group said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DUBAI – The US is withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Jan 14, after a senior Iranian official said on the same day Tehran had warned neighbours it would hit American bases
With Iran’s leadership trying to put down the worst domestic unrest the Islamic Republic has ever faced, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US was withdrawing some personnel from key bases in the region as a precaution given heightened regional tensions.
Three diplomats said some personnel had already been advised to leave the main US air base in the region in Qatar, although there were no immediate signs of a large-scale evacuation of troops, as took place in the hours before an Iranian missile attack in 2025
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the protests against clerical rule.
Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest, which began two weeks ago as demonstrations against dire economic conditions and rapidly escalated in recent days, as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of clerical rule.
The death toll from Iran’s unrest climbed to almost 2,600
Israeli assessment says Trump has decided to intervene
According to an Israeli assessment, Mr Trump has decided to intervene, but the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an Israeli official said.
The three diplomats told Reuters that some personnel had been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by the evening of Jan 14.
One of the diplomats described the move as a “posture change” rather than an “ordered evacuation”. There was no sign of troops being moved off the base to a nearby soccer stadium and shopping mall, as took place June 2025 in the hours before Iran targeted the base with missiles in retaliation for US airstrikes.
The US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iranian authorities have accused the US and Israel of fomenting the unrest, carried out by people it calls terrorists.
Iran asks regional states to prevent a US attack
Mr Trump has openly threatened to intervene in Iran for days, without giving specifics.
In an interview with CBS News on Jan 13, Mr Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters.
“If they hang them, you are going to see some things,” he said.
He also urged Iranians on Jan 13 to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way”
The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran had asked US allies in the region to “prevent Washington from attacking Iran”.
“Tehran has told regional countries – from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Turkey – that US bases in those countries will be attacked” if the US targets Iran, the official said.
The official added that direct contacts between Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff had been suspended, reflecting mounting tensions.
The United States has forces across the region, including in Bahrain, home to the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and Qatar, which hosts Al Udeid Air Base – the forward headquarters for US Central Command.
A second Israeli source, a government official, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was briefed late on Jan 13 about the chances of regime collapse or US intervention in Iran, an arch-foe with which Israel fought a 12-day war in June 2025
Iran fired missiles at Al Udeid in 2025 in retaliation for US air strikes on its nuclear installations.
Government does not seem on verge of collapse, Western official says
The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout
US-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals. An Iranian official told Reuters on Jan 13 that about 2,000 people had been killed.
The government’s prestige was severely damaged by a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign in June - joined by the US - that followed setbacks for Iran’s regional allies in Lebanon and Syria. European countries triggered the restoration of UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme, worsening an economic crisis.
The unrest on such a scale had caught the authorities off guard at a vulnerable time, but it did not appear that the government faced imminent collapse, and its security apparatus was still in control, one Western official said.
The authorities have sought to project images showing they retain public support. Iranian state TV broadcast footage of large funeral processions for people killed in the unrest in Tehran, Isfahan and Bushehr, and other cities. People waved flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and held aloft signs with anti-riot slogans.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, an elected figure whose power is subordinate to that of Mr Khamenei, told a cabinet meeting that as long as the government had popular support, “all the enemies’ efforts against the country will come to nothing”.
Iranian state media reported that the head of Iran’s top security body, Mr Ali Larijani, had spoken to the foreign minister of Qatar and Foreign Minister Araqchi had spoken to his Emirati and Turkish counterparts.
The countries are all US allies.
Mr Araqchi told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Zayed that “calm has prevailed” and that Iranians were determined to defend their sovereignty and security from any foreign interference, state media reported.
Araqchi told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “calm has prevailed” and Iranians were determined to defend their sovereignty and security from foreign interference.
Iran’s Chief Justice urges swift actions
Visiting a Tehran prison where arrested protesters are being held, Iran’s Chief Justice said speed in judging and penalising those “who beheaded or burned people” was critical to ensuring such events do not happen again.
HRANA reported 18,137 arrests so far.
State TV said that a funeral procession would take place on Jan 14 in Tehran for more than 100 civilians and security personnel killed in the unrest.
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, has reported that a 26-year-old man, Mr Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, was to be executed on Jan 14.
Hengaw told Reuters on Jan 14 it had not been able to confirm whether Mr Soltani’s sentence had been carried out due to the internet and communications shutdown. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
Pro-government rallies were held in Iran on Jan 12, a show of loyalist support for the clerical Iranian establishment. So far, there have been no signs of fracture in the security forces that have quelled other bouts of protest over the years.
A pro-government rally in Tehran on Jan 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
While the Iranian authorities have weathered previous protests, the latest unrest is taking place with Tehran still recovering from the war in 2025, and with its regional position weakened by blows to allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks against Israel
Asked what he meant by “help is on its way”, Mr Trump told reporters on Jan 13 they would have to figure that out.
Mr Trump has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.
“The killing looks like it is significant, but we do not know yet for certain,” said Mr Trump upon returning to the Washington area from Detroit, adding he would know more after receiving a report on the evening of Jan 13.
Mr Trump on Jan 12 announced 25 per cent import tariffs
The US State Department on Jan 13 urged American citizens to leave Iran now, including by land through Turkey or Armenia. REUTERS
