Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
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Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the expansion of the war amid the renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying that the region will enter a new phase "through resistance forces."

On Sunday, the foreign minister made the remarks during a press conferen with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Tehran.

The two ministers discussed the recent developments in Gaza amid reports about a possible Oman mediation in the Iranian nuclear program.

Amirabdollahian said that the new phase of the Israeli attacks on Gaza began with the presence of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the ministerial meeting of the Zionist entity.

He added that the US must bear the consequences of this hypocritical behavior in supporting Israel, saying Washington claims it recommends Israel does not kill civilians while granting it the green light for genocide.

For more than 50 days, "we have been following the developments in Palestine to return stability and security in the region and stop the killing and genocide of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said.

The leaders of the resistance warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, the region will enter a new phase, he indicated, warning that the killing of children and women must stop before it is too late.

He asserted that Iran never wanted the war to expand, but the warmongers in the region were strongly warned to stop their support for Israeli crimes.

He said that there is documented evidence that the Zionist regime is seeking to displace people in the Gaza Strip forcibly.

"In a part of the documents that were seized by the Resistance forces during the al-Aqsa Storm operation and in a part of the laptops that were captured, this hypothesis has been proven that the Israeli regime seeks to relocate all the residents of Gaza to a part of the territory and land of Egypt, and it seeks to transfer the residents of the West Bank to parts of Jordan," he noted.

"We hope that our brothers in Egypt will take immediate and serious action to reopen the Rafah border crossing and prevent this Israeli conspiracy against the territorial integrity of Jordan and Egypt."

- Discussing nuclear power

Earlier, the official IRNA agency reported that the two ministers were scheduled to discuss developing cooperation, achieving a ceasefire in the Strip, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart discussed over the phone Israel's resumption of war crimes in Gaza without any regard to the international community and global public opinion.

Busaidi warned against the outbreak of war and its expansion in the region, stressing the necessity of establishing a sustainable truce, sending humanitarian aid on a large scale, and establishing an effective international action.

Iranian media expected Busaidi's visit to Tehran to be within the context of exchanging messages between Tehran and Washington to prevent the expansion of tension in the region.

During the past two months, Iranian officials welcomed an Omani initiative proposed by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

However, they noted it was not a new agreement or a new plan but rather a practical initiative to converge views between Washington and Tehran and the return of all parties to the 2015 agreement.

Last week, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said in press statements that talks with Iran might require a new framework rather than an attempt to revive the 2015 accord.

- Borrell urges Tehran to cooperate constructively

The nuclear agreement was part of the telephone conversation between Amirabdollahian and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that Amirabdollahian called on Borrell to stop the Israeli military attacks on the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Iranian diplomat repeated previous warnings against displacing Palestinians and warned of the possibility of expanding the war in the region.

The two officials also addressed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's cooperation, and Amirabdollahian noted that the "cooperation will continue within a technical and legal framework."

Borrell expressed hope that constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will continue.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country's positions in the Gaza war.

Speaking on Sunday at the "Second National Conference on Responsibility for the Implementation of the Constitution," Raisi said Iran's support for Gaza and Palestine is wholly based on the constitution's principles, which considers the protection of the oppressed as one of its duties.

"Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the basic principles and approaches of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the rights of the Palestinian people and to recognize this issue as the first issue of the Islamic world."

He asserted that the principle is still standing and that global political developments will not change the primary direction of foreign policy.

Raisi reiterated that 6,000 children killed by the "Zionist usurpers will bring down this fake, cruel and usurping regime."



Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

 Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

 Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Monday summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK to object to what it described as support by those countries for the protests that have shaken the country, its foreign ministry said.

The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by "rioters" and told their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters", the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that "European ambassadors" had been summoned by Iran.


Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

 Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

 Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's bazaar merchants, the trader class who were the financial backbone of the 1979 revolution, have turned against the clerics they helped bring to power, fueling unrest over an economy that has morphed into full-blown anti-government protests.

Frustration among bazaar merchants, from small-scale shopkeepers to large wholesale traders, has grown as their political and economic clout in Iran has diminished over the decades while the elite Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the economy, building sprawling and tightly held networks of power.

"We are struggling. We cannot import goods because of US sanctions and because only the Guards or those linked to them control the economy. They only think about their own benefits," said a trader at Tehran’s centuries-old Grand Bazaar, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The wave of protests that has engulfed the country, posing one of the toughest challenges ever to the clerical leadership, erupted in late December in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where hundreds of shopkeepers denounced the sharp fall in the rial currency.

The demonstrations quickly swelled and turned political, challenging the Islamic Republic's legitimacy. Protesters burned images of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and chanted "Death ‌to the dictator" - ‌undeterred by security forces armed with tear gas, batons, and, in many cases, live ammunition.

Iran’s ‌rulers, ⁠while acknowledging economic difficulties, have ‌blamed their longtime foes the US and Israel for fomenting the unrest. They appear intent on holding onto power at any cost, backed by a security apparatus refined over decades of suppressing ethnic revolts, student movements, and protests over economic hardship and social freedoms.

A combination of international sanctions and the Guards' sprawling economic empire has limited the government's ability to ease the dire economic situation.

Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the government has lost control over the situation.

"What is striking is that the unrest began in the bazaar. For merchants, the core issue isn’t inflation - it’s price volatility, which leaves them unable to decide whether to buy or sell," he said.

Economic disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, along with economic mismanagement and state corruption - ⁠reported even by state media - have fanned discontent at a time when inflation is pushing the price of many goods beyond the means of most people.

Iran's rial currency has lost nearly ‌half its value against the dollar in 2025, with official inflation reaching 42.5% in December.

CONTROL ‍OF SECTORS FROM OIL TO CONSTRUCTION

Created by the republic's ‍late founder Khomeini, the Guards first secured an economic foothold after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when clerical rulers allowed them ‍to invest in leading Iranian industries.

Their influence expanded exponentially over decades, benefiting from Khamenei's full backing and from opportunities created by Western sanctions, which effectively excluded Iran from the global financial and trading system.

The Guards now control vast sectors of the economy, from oil to transportation, communications, and construction.

Another trader said the crisis was not over, as the Guards have long proved adept at defending their economic interests.

"The government wants to resolve the problem, but it lacks the means and power in this system. The economy is not controlled by the government," said the trader, a 62-year-old carpet seller in Tehran.

All aspects of the country's sanctions-hit oil business have come under the growing influence of the ⁠Guards - from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretly ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and front companies selling the oil, mostly to China.

"No one knows how much of the oil money that the Guards get from selling Iran’s oil returns to the country ... they are too powerful to be questioned about it,” said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

During his 2013–2021 presidency, pragmatist Hassan Rouhani repeatedly clashed with the Guards, accusing them publicly of resisting budget cuts, while his attempts to curb their commercial networks and assets were largely frustrated.

THE ESTABLISHMENT RELIES ON THE GUARDS TO END UNREST

Even as it has relinquished economic power, the clerical establishment has relied on its loyal forces - the Guards and its affiliated Basij paramilitary - to violently crush ethnic uprisings, student unrest, and protests over economic hardship, preserving the political order.

"Given the sensitive circumstances when the country faces foreign threats, Khamenei cannot upset the Guards by curbing their economic influence. The establishment needs them to quell the protests and confront foreign threats," said an insider, close to Rouhani.

US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 544 people - 496 protesters and 48 security personnel - with 10,681 people arrested since ‌the protests began on December 28 and spread around the country. Reuters was unable to independently verify the tallies.

The authorities have not given numbers of casualties, but officials say many members of the security forces have been killed by "terrorists and rioters" linked to foreign foes, including the US States and Israel.


Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

 A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
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Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

 A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Greenland's government said on Monday it will increase efforts to ensure the defense of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO and again rejected US President Donald Trump's ambition to take over the island.

Trump has said the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia ‌or China occupying the ‌strategically located and minerals-rich territory ‌in ⁠the future.

"All ‌NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of Greenland," the island's coalition government said in a statement, adding that it can in no way accept a US takeover of Greenland.

"As part of ⁠the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and ‌the defense of Greenland ‍must therefore be through NATO," ‍the government said.

The European Union Commissioner ‍for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said earlier on Monday that any US military takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO.

Trump first floated the idea of a US takeover of Greenland in 2019 during his first term ⁠in office, although he faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.

While Denmark has ruled Greenland for centuries, the territory has gradually been moving towards independence since 1979, a goal shared by all political parties elected to the island's parliament.

"We are a democratic society that makes our own decisions. And our actions are based on international law," Greenland's Prime Minister ‌Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on LinkedIn.