Trump Warns Iran After Deadly Protest Crackdowns, Says US May Respond

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – How Iran Crushed a Citizen Uprising With Lethal Force. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the Supreme National Security Council, the body tasked with safeguarding the regime, to crush the protests by any means necessary.

The internet was shut down, and phone services were disrupted. Security forces were deployed with orders to shoot to kill and to show no mercy. Verified videos show security forces opening fire on protesters in at least 19 cities and in at least six different neighborhoods in Tehran.

The death toll surged. Over 36,500 killed in Iran’s deadliest massacre, documents reveal. By Monday, Jan. 12, the protests had largely been crushed.

“This is not merely a violent protest crackdown,” said Raha Bahreini, a lawyer and an Iran researcher at Amnesty International. “It is a state-orchestrated massacre.” “We all know someone who was killed” – Iran protesters tell BBC of brutal crackdown.

Day 33 of the Protests: EU Designates IRGC as a Terrorist Organization as Repression Persists.

Meanwhile, as the U.S. armada arrives in the Middle East amid threats to attack “with speed and violence,” Iran has put its rhetorical “fingers on the trigger,” the regime’s foreign minister warned.

Destroyer USS Delbert D. Black is now in the Red Sea, adding to the increased U.S. presence in the Middle East, following the Lincoln strike group’s shift to the Middle East.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

THE PDB – Not the President’s Daily Briefing, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Pentagon’s new “non-kinetic effects cell” bolsters Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine’s goal to better integrate cyber into military operations. A new team has been set up at the Pentagon to do just that.

Recent declassification of the formerly top-secret “Jumpseat” spy satellite by the National Reconnaissance Office provides details on the system that monitored critical Soviet military assets during the tensest years of the Cold War.

HOMELAND DEFENSE

Is Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system feasible? Rep. Jeff Crank, founder of the House Golden Dome Caucus, says not only is Trump’s missile defense proposal possible — it can also be done quickly.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Dozens of military lawyers (JAGs) have been temporarily assigned as federal prosecutors to support law enforcement surges in Minneapolis and other cities, a novel arrangement that is drawing concern from some legal experts.

Army Criminal Investigation Division announced a reward of up to $5,000 for information about an explosive stolen from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

DEFENSE POLITICS

The Senate rejected a package of spending bills to fund roughly half of federal agencies, putting much of the government, including the War Department, on a collision course with a shutdown set to begin this weekend.

Army general tapped to lead National Security Agency assured lawmakers he will follow the Constitution and the law when it comes to using NSA’s powerful surveillance tools.

US DEFENSE BUILDUP

Leonardo DRS CEO talks about meeting the Trump administration’s demands for increased shipbuilding at the opening of his company’s new submarine propulsion plant in South Carolina.

Lockheed Martin will quadruple THAAD missile-defense system output to roughly 400 interceptors a year, in response to Pentagon demand.

Denver-based Voyager Technologies is adding propulsion systems and other components to its manufacturing capabilities as part of a $280 million investment, with the Pentagon pressing defense contractors to accelerate domestic munitions production.

AI startup Anthropic and U.S. defense officials clash over whether the technology would be used for autonomous “lethal” operations and surveillance, imperiling a $200 million contract.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Army redesignates unit for jungle warfare training in Panama. Army’s focus on the Western Hemisphere is beginning to show in how it’s reorganizing the forces it sends abroad.

The Air Force is looking for contractors to train foreign pilots receiving U.S. military aid.

A U.S. tank unit will be deployed to Romania to enhance “quality and lethality” of the U.S. military presence there.

VENEZUELA CRISIS

President Trump has informed Venezuela’s acting, interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, that he will open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, and Americans will soon be able to visit.

U.S. can strike anywhere — but can it stay anywhere? Operation Absolute Resolve captured Venezuelan narco dictator Maduro in a stunning display of U.S. military power. Yet weeks later, pro-government forces still control Caracas, and the country remains “uninvestable.”

The U.S. can have the oil. Venezuela’s riches were squandered by its corrupt and repressive socialist regime, souring many on national stewardship.

Lockheed Martin offered very rare confirmation of RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone‘s operational exploits, in this case, in support of a recent mission to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Israel turned over the bodies of 15 Palestinians, just days after recovering the remains of the last Israeli hostage, marking the last exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu vows to cut Israel’s reliance on U.S. military aid. The Prime Minister blamed some soldiers’ deaths in the Gaza war on a lack of ammunition caused by a pause in U.S. weapon deliveries under Joe Biden.

CHINA THREAT

Japan tracked four Chinese warships transiting a strategic waterway near Okinawa, a move that followed U.S.-Philippine military drills near a contested South China Sea atoll that drew complaints from Beijing.

EUROPEAN DEFENSE

Germany spearheading initiative to create “two-speed” EU, proposing that core group of six major economies bypass bloc’s traditional consensus-based decision-making to accelerate defense cooperation and industrial competitiveness amid mounting geopolitical pressures.

Norway picked South Korea’s Hanwha to supply the army with long-range precision rocket artillery in a deal worth $2 billion, preferring the company’s Chunmoo system over competing offers from KNDS and Rheinmetall as well as the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Turkish armored-vehicles manufacturer Otokar Otomotiv is expanding its European industrial footprint by planning to acquire a controlling stake in Romania’s Automecanica.

US MILITARY

Ahead of the 101st Airborne Division’s receipt of the Bell MV-75 tiltrotor, its personnel participated in an Army training exercise testing a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey.

The Army wants 11 business jets for ISR missions. After a half-century of flying turboprop ISR aircraft, the Army is turning to business jets.

Navy’s second nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier steamed out for sea trials ahead of its much-anticipated arrival to fleet in 2027.

Air Force has chosen the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, to spearhead “battle lab” efforts to counter small-drone threats at U.S. military bases.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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