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Iran will offer no leniency to “rioters”, though the public has a right to demonstrate, the head of the country’s judiciary said on Monday, following more than a week of sometimes-deadly protests.The remarks came after US President Donald Trump warned Iran would “get hit very hard by the United States” if the authorities killed more demonstrators.Protests erupted on December 28 when shopkeepers in capital Tehran staged a strike over high prices and economic stagnation. They have since spread to other cities and expanded to include political demands.”I instruct the attorney general and prosecutors across the country to act in accordance with the law and with resolve against the rioters and those who support them… and to show no leniency or indulgence,” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.He went on to add that Iran “listens to the protesters and their criticism, and distinguishes between them and rioters”.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Iran to respect the demonstrators’ right to peaceful protest, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, underscoring “the need to prevent further casualties”.”All individuals must be allowed to protest peacefully and express their grievances,” he said.Demonstrations have taken place in 23 of Iran’s 31 provinces and affected, to varying degrees, at least 45 different cities, most of them small or medium-sized and concentrated in the west, according to an AFP tally based on official statements and media reports.At least 12 people have been killed since December 30 in localised clashes, including members of the security forces, according to official announcements.According to Mizan, police intelligence officers in the capital have identified a suspected rioter hideout and seized “weapons, ammunition, and materials for making improvised explosive devices”.Since the protests began, officials have publicly struck a conciliatory tone when it comes to protesters’ economic demands, while vowing to take a hard line against any chaos or destabilisation.Iran’s economy has been hit hard by tough international sanctions, with the national currency, the rial, losing more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year and inflation in double digits.On Sunday, the government announced a monthly allowance for every citizen to alleviate economic pressure, equivalent to around 3.5 percent of the average monthly wage.The reformist newspaper Arman Melli said Monday that the authorities had “heard the voices of the protesters”, while the conservative papers Javan and Kayhan accused the United States and Israel of financially supporting rioters.- Watching ‘very closely’ -Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the US was watching the situation “very closely”. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” he said on Sunday.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his country stood “in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people and with their aspirations for freedom”.On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said at a press conference attended by AFP journalists that Israel was trying “to exploit the slightest opportunity to sow division and undermine our national unity”.Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Movahedi-Azad last week warned against “externally designed scenarios” to harness the protests, promising a “decisive response”.Israel fought a 12-day war with Iran in June, which the US briefly joined with limited strikes on nuclear facilities. – ‘Movement by movement’ -The Fars news agency said on Monday that “the trend observed on Sunday night shows a notable decrease in the number of gatherings and their geographic reach compared to previous nights”.Local media’s accounting of the protests is not exhaustive, and state-run outlets have downplayed their coverage of the demonstrations, while videos flooding social media are often impossible to verify.On Monday, most shops in Tehran were open and residents were going about their business after the end of the weekend on Sunday, according to AFP reporters in the capital.However, riot police were deployed at major intersections and officers were stationed in front of some schools. Several universities have resumed classes, but only online.Protests have also taken place among the Iranian diaspora.At a demonstration in Paris on Sunday, 29-year-old French-Iranian translator Sahar Aghakhani told AFP: “With each new protest, Iranian men and women gain ground. Movement by movement, we’re getting closer to the end of the regime.”Iran has experienced several outbreaks of nationwide protests in recent years, most notably in 2022 over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini over the alleged breach of Iran’s Islamic dress laws for women.So far, the current protests have not reached the same scale.

An emboldened US President Donald Trump has hinted that he has other countries in his sights after toppling Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, leaving the world asking: where’s next? Trump took aim at Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico and Iran in the space of a single half-hour exchange with reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One.Trump, who openly campaigned for last year’s Nobel peace prize and has scorned interventionism, now says he is enforcing Washington’s right to do what it pleases in his backyard.- Greenland -In the days since the Venezuela operation, Trump has doubled down on his desire to annex Greenland from Denmark.”Trump has given us a long list of potential future conquests — but the most likely target of his administration will be Greenland,” Asli Aydintasbas, fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings institution, told AFP.Trump insists Washington needs the mineral-rich, semi-autonomous territory for national security reasons, arguing Denmark is unable to protect Greenland from Russia and China. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has responded by warning that any move to take Greenland by force could mean the end of the US-led NATO military alliance itself.But Washington could instead increase diplomatic pressure on its already nervy European allies, for example by insisting on a referendum in Greenland.- Colombia -Colombia has been the target of Trump’s most hardline threats. The US leader warned leftist President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass” and said military action “sounds good to me.”Trump accuses Petro of being in league with drug traffickers — just as he did with Maduro in the run-up to his capture.Petro, who has traded barbs with Trump for months over the US pressure campaign against neighboring Venezuela, responded Monday he was ready to “take up arms” in the face of Trump’s threats.But Colombia could pose an altogether different challenge, with many armed groups left over from its civil war. Instead, Trump may be relying on Venezuela to tell other Latin American leaders to bend the knee.”Basically he is saying ‘I can bully the country into submission,’ and saying that US hegemony must be accepted if they want to maintain their sovereignty,” Aydintasbas said.- Cuba -Trump claimed Sunday that Cuba — an enduring US foe and ally of Venezuela — was “ready to fall.”The communist-run island a few dozen miles from Florida has long been in the sights of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants. Havana said 32 Cuban bodyguards were killed in the operation to seize Maduro.But Trump said he believed military action against Cuba would not be necessary, predicting that the sanctions-hit nation could not survive the loss of heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil.- Mexico -Trump on Sunday told Mexico it had to “get their act together,” following months of pressure over drugs and trade on the United States’ southern neigbbor.He said President Claudia Sheinbaum  — whom he met in Washington in December at the draw for the 2026 World Cup, to be held jointly in the United States, Canada and Mexico — was a “terrific person.”But he said he was pushing her to let him send US troops to tackle drug cartels in Mexico, an offer he said she had previously rebuffed.Sheinbaum pushed back Monday against US claims of dominance over the region, saying the Americas “do not belong” to any power.- Iran -Iran — like Venezuela a major oil producer — faced US strikes against its nuclear program in June and is now under renewed pressure from Trump for clamping down on protests.Trump warned on Sunday that Tehran would “get hit very hard” if more demonstrators were killed.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham posted a photo of Trump holding a black hat with the logo “Make Iran Great Again” as they traveled on Air Force One.Aydintasbas, however, warned against Trump getting “too trigger happy.””Right now he seems to be enjoying the moment of imperial presidency, she said. “But if things start going south either in Venezuela or the Middle East, we’re going to see President Trump very quickly lose interest in this role.”

The Israeli military launched strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese state media reported, after warning it would hit what it called Hezbollah and Hamas targets in four villages.It was the first such warning issued by the Israeli military this year, as Israel continues to strike targets in Lebanon despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.An AFP photographer in Kfar Hatta, one of the targeted villages in south Lebanon, saw dozens of families flee the village after the warning was issued, amid drone activity in the area, adding that ambulances and fire trucks were on standby.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes on the four villages.It later reported a new series of strikes near the southern towns of Saksakiyeh and Sarafand, without prior warning.According to the NNA, the strike on Al-Manara in eastern Lebanon caused “the complete destruction of a house and serious damage to surrounding houses, cars and commercial establishments”.The Israeli military said in a statement it “began striking Hezbollah and Hamas terror targets in Lebanon”.In two separate posts on X, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said the villages were Kfar Hatta and Annan in south Lebanon, and Al-Manara and Ain al-Tineh in eastern Lebanon.Adraee said the military would hit Hezbollah sites in Kfar Hatta and Ain al-Tinah, and Hamas sites in Annan and Al-Manara.The NNA said the home targeted in Al-Manara belonged to Sharhabil Sayed, a Hamas leader in Lebanon who was killed by Israel in 2024.- Repeated attacks -Despite a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel carries out regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is bombing Hezbollah sites and operatives, and occasionally Hamas targets.Two people were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a vehicle on Sunday, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border, the Lebanese health ministry said.In November, an Israeli strike on south Lebanon’s Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp killed 13 people.Israel said it targeted a Hamas compound, with the group rejecting the claim.It has also hit Hamas’ ally in Lebanon, the Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, which claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel before the ceasefire.Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Beirut has committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened after more than a year of hostilities with Israel including two months of open war that ended with the November 2024 ceasefire.Lebanon’s army was expected to complete the disarmament south of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel — by the end of 2025, before tackling the rest of the country.All four of Monday’s targeted villages are located north of the river.Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday called the disarmament efforts far from sufficient.Lebanon’s cabinet is to meet on Thursday to discuss the army’s progress, while the ceasefire monitoring committee — comprising Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and UN peacekeepers — is also set to meet this week.At least 350 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports.