Or is it twenty thousand? No one has solid figures on the death toll in Iran, where the regime has massacred thousands of people in the streets in a desperate attempt to keep its grip on power. However, video leaking from the protests and data coming from first responders indicate that the true numbers of those murdered have gone well north of the six-hundred figure just from this weekend.
CBS News reported this morning that “at least” 12,000 have been killed while demanding an end to the rule of the mullahs and their IRGC henchmen:
The Iranian regime may have begun executing jailed protesters Wednesday, CBS News has learned, as two sources say as many as 12,000 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Iran.
Disturbing video shows rows of body bags in some Iranian cities — and people who… pic.twitter.com/WVvxeAGAWf
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 14, 2026
Information trickling out of Iran on Tuesday suggests that a crackdown by authorities to end more than two weeks of widespread anti-government protests has likely been far more deadly than activists outside the country have reported. With phone lines opening back up for calls from inside the Islamic Republic, two sources, including one inside Iran, told CBS News on Tuesday that at least 12,000, and possibly as many as 20,000 people have been killed. …
A source inside Iran who was able to call out told CBS News on Tuesday that activist groups working to compile a full death toll from the protests, based on reports from medical officials across the country, believed the toll was at least 12,000, and possibly as high as 20,000.
The bigger news, at least in terms of potential consequences, is that the regime has reportedly begun executing captured protesters today. CBS News reports that will cross a clear warning from Trump made earlier in the week on their own news program, just as Trump mulls over potential options for intervention:
The Iranian regime may have begun executing jailed protesters Wednesday, CBS News has learned, as two sources say as many as 12,000 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Iran.
Disturbing video shows rows of body bags in some Iranian cities — and people who… pic.twitter.com/WVvxeAGAWf
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 14, 2026
President Trump threatened to “take very strong action” if Iranian authorities begin hanging anti-government protesters this week.
“We will take very strong action. If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action,” Mr. Trump told “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil during an exclusive network interview in Dearborn, Michigan, that aired Tuesday night.
Such executions will likely narrow Trump’s focus on potential retaliatory options. What will Trump choose? The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon is already shifting around resources in the region in anticipation of what may come next:
The U.S. military is evacuating some personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as a precaution, as President Trump considers ordering military action in Iran.
The U.S. has begun to move some personnel out of the base, where the U.S. military has a major presence, given the escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter said.
Last June, the Iranians launched a missile attack aimed at yhe Al Udeid base, after Trump destroyed their nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. That had been a pre-arranged Kabuki theater piece, allowing Ali Khamenei and the IRGC to save a little face before signing onto a cease-fire with Israel and the US. This time, the US seems to be readying itself for a more ad hoc response to something significant. If so, it will come quickly, as these kinds of disruptions are generally not sustainable for a long period.
Meanwhile, video continues to leak from Iran, thanks in large part to Elon Musk’s investment in the opposition. CNN got an exclusive interview with one physician, playing leaked video of the atrocities and their aftermath. It’s bad already and getting worse. If Trump expects to salvage the situation with an intervention, the time has clearly arrived.
A doctor who recently left Iran shares exclusively with CNN his first hand testimony of what he witnessed inside the country.@JomanaCNN reports. pic.twitter.com/NlKjI5khNS
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) January 14, 2026
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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