by WorldTribune Staff, January 9, 2026 Real World News
In a post to Truth Social on Friday, President Donald Trump attached a video from Israel’s Kanal13 news which reports that over one million protesters in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, have forced regime forces to leave and now control the city.
Verifying the report has been made difficult due to the Iranian regime imposing a nationwide internet blackout.
Mashhad, with a population of around 4 million and located near the borders with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, is also home to the holy shrine of Imam Reza, a major pilgrimage site.
Trump said on Thursday that he was monitoring the situation in Iran very closely, noting the large size of the crowds of anti-government protesters.
He continued: “There was a stampede. There were three stampedes and people died, and I’m not sure I can necessarily hold anyone responsible for that.”
Tasnim News Agency, which is close to Iran’s security establishment, claims that 568 police officers and 66 Basij militia members have been injured during the protests.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 42 people had been killed, including 8 security personnel, with dozens injured and 2,277 arrested.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in televised remarks on Friday that Trump would soon be “brought down” by his “arrogance,” even as regime sources have confirmed that it is in “survival mode.”
“Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people, and it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” Khamenei declared as anti-regime protests spread across the country.
The protesters, Khamenei contended, “want to make [Trump] happy. If he knew how to run a country, he would run his own.”
In a Jan. 6 report, Geostrategy-Direct.com Iranian officials have told sources that the Islamic Republic has shifted to “survival mode.”
Related: ‘The system is in crisis’: Sources see Iran at Soviet-style breaking point, January 6, 2026
In a second Jan. 6 report, Geostrategy-Direct.com noted that Khamenei’s “Plan B” for the ongoing protests is to escape to Russia.
Related: Report: Khamenei could hit same exit ramp as Assad: To Russia, January 6, 2026
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