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The United States began evacuating hundreds of troops from its largest Middle East air base amid turmoil in Iran, with the death toll in relation to widespread protests against the Islamic regime spiking and President Donald Trump teasing potential military action, NBC News reports.
Troops at al-Udeid Air Base are now moving to other facilities and hotels in the Middle East in an effort to get out of harm's way should the U.S. launch an attack on Iran that would be met with retaliation from Tehran, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NBC News. At least 2,500 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began last month, according to the United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate with its reports of unrest in Iran in recent years.
Trump publicly threatened to "take very strong action" if Iranian authorities began hanging protesters during an interview with CBS News.
"We will take very strong action. If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action," Trump said.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency's death toll report is based on information provided by activists in the country crosschecking information and has faced difficulties in gauging the demonstrations abroad as internet is down and phone lines are cut off in Iran. The odds of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei being overthrown had once again spiked above 60% amid nationwide protests, according to Polymarket.
"BREAKING: Iran's Supreme Leader now projected to lose power this year, as he threatens U.S. troops in the region. The odds have surged past 60%," Polymarket wrote on its X account on Sunday (January 11).
Odds for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei being overthrown spiked to 60% on Friday (January 9), according to Polymarket, amid widespread anti-government protests. Khamenei claimed the protests were started by "vandals" destroying public properties and acting on behalf of Trump, who had reported that peaceful protesters were being killed and claimed Washington could "come to their rescue."
The supreme leader warned that the government wouldn't tolerate "mercenaries for foreigners" in a broadcast on national Iranian television via Reuters.
“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said.
The supreme leader's comments followed an internet blackout in Iran amid the ongoing protests. NetBlocks, an internet watchdog, said the blackout and other forms of censorship were imposed by authorities in response to the turmoil.
Several videos of the protests have, however, been shared on social media by opposition groups and human rights monitors, which includes protesters calling for Khamenei to be overthrown, as well as the return of Mohammad Reze Shah Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last king. Pahlavi, who now lives in Virginia, is the heir to Iran's last shah, who was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.