Iran warns U.S. troops, Israel are targets if Washington strikes as protest death toll rises

Iran warned on Sunday that U.S. troops and Israel would be targeted if Washington strikes, as protests stretched into a third week with deaths.

Iran warned on Sunday, January 11, 2026, that U.S. troops and Israel would be legitimate targets if Washington launches a military strike over nationwide protests, as the death toll from unrest challenging the country’s theocracy continued to rise, activists said.

Nationwide demonstrations have now crossed the two-week mark, with protesters returning to the streets of Tehran and Mashhad despite a heavy security presence and sweeping arrests by Iranian authorities.

At least 116 people have been killed and around 2,600 others detained since the protests erupted, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, though an information blackout has made independent verification increasingly difficult.

Iran’s leadership escalated its rhetoric during a heated parliamentary session broadcast on state television, where Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that any U.S. military action would trigger a “severe and reciprocal response” against Israel and American military bases across the region.

Qalibaf accused President Donald Trump of being “delusional” and said Iran would not limit itself to responding after an attack, stressing that under what he called legitimate self-defense, Tehran could act preemptively against perceived threats.

The demonstrations began on December 28 after the Iranian rial collapsed to record lows, trading at more than 1.4 million to the dollar, fueling public anger over inflation, unemployment, and the economic impact of international sanctions.

What started as protests over economic hardship quickly evolved into broader political dissent, with demonstrators openly challenging Iran’s clerical system and, in some cases, invoking symbols from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

As more protests are planned for Sunday and Iranian officials signal zero tolerance for dissent, the crisis is increasingly intersecting with rising U.S.-Iran tensions, raising fears that prolonged domestic unrest could spiral into a wider regional confrontation.

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