Iranians Protest in Zahedan Despite Tight Security

Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
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Iranians Protest in Zahedan Despite Tight Security

Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)

Thousands took to the streets in Zahedan Friday despite the checkpoints and roadblocks established by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces and police officers.

Videos from the march showed protesters carrying banners and chanting against the Iranian government.

The military forces designated checkpoints in different areas of Zahedan and outside the homes of Baloch citizens in anticipation of these protests.

Residents complained about the treatment of the military forces, as everyone was interrogated, searched, and forced to show their identity cards.

According to the Iran International website, military forces were also present at some schools, noting that they had been converted into what resembled military bases.

Iran has been witnessing massive protests for months, after the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, on September 16, 2022, at the hands of the "morality police."

Despite pressures and threats, anti-regime Friday protests continued for the fifteenth week in Zahedan.

According to the United Nations, Iran arrested at least 14,000 people during the protests.

The authorities executed four people for their role in the unrest and imposed death sentences on 18 people, sparking widespread international outrage.

The EU will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations over the crackdown on protests but is still debating listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, diplomats said Friday.

Foreign ministers from the bloc will agree to adopt the fourth package of sanctions against Tehran due to its repression of the demonstrators at a scheduled meeting on Monday in Brussels.

The EU imposed sanctions, including freezing assets and a visa ban on more than 60 Iranian officials and entities over the suppression of protests, including the morality police, IRGC commanders, and state media.

However, the EU is still discussing adding the IRGC to the blacklist of terrorist organizations despite calls from Germany and other member states to take this step.

For its part, Iran warned the EU against this move, and European officials fear that it could hinder attempts to revive the 2015 agreement on Tehran's nuclear program, mediated by Brussels.

"I think it's not a good idea because it prevents you from going ahead in other issues," a senior EU official said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said that the EU foreign ministers are expected to agree to impose more sanctions targeting IRGC commanders at their meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Asked at a regular government news conference in Berlin whether sanctions could hamper diplomatic efforts to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, the spokesperson said: "The focus of our policy currently is increasing pressure on the Iranian regime."



Witkoff Says Trump Questioning why Iran Has Not 'Capitulated'

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Witkoff Says Trump Questioning why Iran Has Not 'Capitulated'

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

The United States and Iran this week resumed Oman-mediated talks in Geneva aimed at averting the possibility of military action, after Washington dispatched two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to the region to back its warnings.

In a Fox News interview with Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, Witkoff said the president was "curious" about Iran's position after he had warned them of severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal.

"I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," AFP quoted him as saying.

"Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven't they come to us and said, 'We profess we don't want a weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do'? And yet it's sort of hard to get them to that place."

The US envoy also confirmed in the interview that he had met with Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Iranian Revolution that ousted the monarchy.

"I met him at the direction of the president," he said, without providing further details.

US-based Pahlavi last week told a crowd in Munich that he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" after Trump said regime change would be best for the country.

Witkoff's comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days.

Trump said on Thursday that Iran had at most 15 days to make a deal on concerns starting with its nuclear program.

As talks between the two nations continued in Geneva, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that Trump would not succeed in destroying the country.


Will Trump Accept a ‘Token’ Nuclear Enrichment in Iran?

(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
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Will Trump Accept a ‘Token’ Nuclear Enrichment in Iran?

(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

The Trump administration is prepared to consider a proposal that allows Iran “token” nuclear enrichment if it leaves no possible path to a bomb, a senior US official told Axios on Saturday.

This suggests there could be an opening, if only a small one, between the red lines set by the US and Iran for a deal to constrain Iran's nuclear capabilities and prevent war, according to Axios.

The report published this week said that after the Geneva talks, US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner asked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to produce a detailed proposal addressing all the US concerns regarding Iran's nuclear program.

A senior US official said Witkoff and Kushner told Araghchi that Trump's position was “zero enrichment” on Iranian soil.

But the official said that if the proposal includes “small, token enrichment,” and if the Iranians offer detailed proof that it poses no threat, the US will study it.
Another senior Trump adviser said: “Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment.”

Pezeshkian: We Will Not Bow Our Heads

Meanwhile, Iranian ⁠President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its ⁠head to pressure from world powers.

“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads... but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by ⁠state TV.

But a senior US official told Axios that “Trump will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home. If the Iranians want to prevent an attack they should give us an offer we can't refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games there won't be a lot of patience.”

At the same time, Trump has been presented with military options that involve directly targeting the supreme leader.

The Trump adviser said the Pentagon had presented the US President with numerous options.

“They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs,” the adviser said, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is seen as a potential successor. “What the president chooses no one knows. I don't think he knows.”

A second source confirmed a plan to kill Khamenei and his son was floated to Trump several weeks ago.

Another senior Trump adviser said: “Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment.”

Zero Enrichment

In return, a senior US official said Witkoff and Kushner told Araghchi that Trump's position was “zero enrichment” on Iranian soil. But the official said that if the proposal includes “small, token enrichment,” and if the Iranians offer detailed proof that it poses no threat, the US will study it.

A source familiar with the talks told Axios that regional mediators told Iran and the US in recent days that any deal must enable both sides to claim victory and, if possible, also be something that Gulf countries can accept.

With the region bracing for war, the US official insisted that Washington would wait for Iran's proposal before deciding how to proceed, and whether there will be another round of talks.

CBS News quoted US officials as saying on Wednesday that Iran had floated the idea of pausing uranium enrichment for a specified period of time, possibly one to three years or five years, while some said this period covered the remainder of Trump's years in the White House.

For his part, Araghchi said on Friday that “Washington has not asked Tehran to permanently suspend uranium enrichment,” adding Tehran had not offered the US a temporary suspension of its uranium enrichment.

Iran's foreign minister said he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following nuclear talks with the United States this ⁠week, while Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.

Two US officials told Reuters that US military planning on Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran, if ordered by Trump.

Araghchi said after indirect discussions in Geneva this week with Witkoff and Kushner that the sides had reached an understanding on main “guiding principles,” but that did not mean a deal was ⁠imminent.

The foreign minister, in an interview on MS NOW, said he had a draft counterproposal that could be ready in the next two or three days for top Iranian officials to review, with more US-Iran talks possible in a week or so.


Pakistan Launches Deadly Strikes in Afghanistan

Pakistani soldiers patrol the scene where a police officer was killed in the line of duty during an attack on a polio vaccination campaign team, in Chaman, Balochistan province, Pakistan, 06 February 2026. EPA/AKHTER GULFAM
Pakistani soldiers patrol the scene where a police officer was killed in the line of duty during an attack on a polio vaccination campaign team, in Chaman, Balochistan province, Pakistan, 06 February 2026. EPA/AKHTER GULFAM
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Pakistan Launches Deadly Strikes in Afghanistan

Pakistani soldiers patrol the scene where a police officer was killed in the line of duty during an attack on a polio vaccination campaign team, in Chaman, Balochistan province, Pakistan, 06 February 2026. EPA/AKHTER GULFAM
Pakistani soldiers patrol the scene where a police officer was killed in the line of duty during an attack on a polio vaccination campaign team, in Chaman, Balochistan province, Pakistan, 06 February 2026. EPA/AKHTER GULFAM

Pakistan said Sunday it launched multiple air strikes targeting militants in neighboring Afghanistan, where the government reported children were among dozens of people killed and wounded.

The overnight attacks were the most extensive since border clashes in October killed more than 70 people on both sides and wounded hundreds.

Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups "in the aftermath of recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan".

The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of ISIS, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.

Afghanistan's defense ministry said "dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded" when strikes hit a madrasa and homes in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.

An AFP journalist in Nangarhar's Bihsud district said residents from around the remote and mountainous area joined rescuers in one village, using a digger and shovels to search for bodies under the rubble.

Afghanistan's defense ministry said it will "deliver an appropriate and calculated response" to the Pakistani strikes.

The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.