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Mayor Zohran Mamdani is already drawing criticism over what sources describe as a delayed and lukewarm reaction to two police-involved shootings in one night — a response that has also sparked tension with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, The NY Post reports.

Despite being briefed by Tisch shortly after each incident Thursday — which occurred about six hours apart — Mamdani waited roughly 16 hours before issuing a public statement. The delay stood out given that he had retreated from his earlier “defund the police” rhetoric during the mayoral campaign.

When the statement finally appeared Friday morning, it further inflamed anger inside the department by highlighting that an “internal investigation” would take place — language some police officials felt subtly suggested misconduct, even though such reviews are standard procedure.

“I know many are eager for answers,” Mamdani wrote on X. “The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation — I will work with Commissioner Tisch to ensure this is as thorough and swift as possible.”

Multiple sources said Tisch appeared visibly upset later Friday morning and was seen striding out of City Hall following a meeting with administration officials, as Mamdani was fielding questions from reporters about his slow response.

“I take it very seriously the language that I use, and I think that in a situation such as this, you have to be very intentional in what you share,” Mamdani said later at an unrelated appearance at Brooklyn College, where he distributed free tickets to the “Under the Radar” Festival ” theater festival.

Just days earlier, the mayor had rushed to the scenes of two separate five-alarm fires — one in Queens and another in The Bronx — delivering on-the-ground updates alongside FDNY leaders.

But Mamdani did not appear at either of Thursday’s violent emergencies. The first unfolded shortly before 5:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where a blood-soaked man armed with a broken piece of a toilet barricaded himself inside an eighth-floor room with an elderly patient and a security guard.

Police said officers repeatedly deployed Tasers against the suspect — identified as Michael Lynch, 62, a former NYPD officer who left the force in the 1990s — during a tense standoff in the blood-splattered room.

When the stun devices failed to stop Lynch, officers fired their weapons, authorities said. Lynch was later pronounced dead.

The second shooting happened around 11 p.m., when officers patrolling Manhattan were flagged down at what appeared to be a road rage confrontation.

According to officials, a man later identified by sources as 37-year-old Dmitry Zass exited a BMW and appeared to be holding a gun.

Police opened fire, striking Zass, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Investigators later determined that the weapon Zass was holding was a replica Sig Sauer handgun, according to an image released by the NYPD.

Sources said Zass’ parents had called 911 earlier, reporting that he was attacking his father with a gun. They also obtained an order of protection against him earlier the same day, according to those sources.

Details of both shootings were known to Mamdani for hours before he posted his statement on X at 9:44 a.m.

“Last night’s shootings at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and in the West Village are devastating to all New Yorkers,” he wrote, without noting that one individual was violently out of control after multiple Taser deployments and that the other appeared to be brandishing a realistic-looking firearm.

He then added: “I know many are eager for answers. The NYPD is conducting an internal investigation — I will work with Commissioner Tisch to ensure this is as thorough and swift as possible.

“These tragedies are painful, whether they take place steps from our home or miles away. They are a reminder of the immense work that must be done to deliver genuine public safety — work Commissioner Tisch and I are undertaking together every day,” Mamdani concluded, offering no explicit words of support for the officers involved.

Sources familiar with the day’s events criticized the mayor’s vague and delayed messaging, noting that NYPD leadership had been in constant communication with City Hall — including Mamdani, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, senior staff, and the communications team — sharing real-time updates, images, and briefings.

One source said Mamdani’s reference to “genuine public safety” was baffling.

“I don’t know what else would be ‘genuine public safety’ other than protecting an elderly patient and a security guard from a person with a sharp weapon,” the source said.

The mayor’s emphasis on an internal investigation also puzzled law enforcement officials, who said such reviews are routine in officer-involved shootings.

“When the NYPD holds a press conference for an officer involved shooting, we always provide preliminary information to make clear that the Force Investigation Division will be handling the investigation,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “FID always investigates these incidents and we always state this.”

Tisch’s own public comments later Friday were viewed by some as an indirect rebuke of Mamdani’s response, as she focused squarely on the officers’ actions and courage.

“Officers were engaged in two police-involved shootings, and there is every indication that their actions were nothing short of heroic,” she posted on X at noon, shortly after her City Hall meeting.

While several sources described Tisch as visibly angry as she left City Hall, another person who saw her afterward said she did not appear upset.

The controversy erupted just eight days into Mamdani’s term and quickly prompted comparisons to early clashes between the NYPD and one of his favorite former mayors, Bill de Blasio.

“Week two and Mamdani has already betrayed the cops, this is his de Blasio moment,” a former City Hall staffer said.

Meanwhile, the state Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation announced it would review the road rage shooting, noting that it “assesses every incident” in which police actions may have resulted in a death.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump said Friday that the United States will take control of Greenland “whether they like it or not,” arguing that American action is necessary because “if we don’t do it, China or Russia will.”

Trump said Denmark would hand over the territory either cooperatively or under pressure, describing the choice as “the easy way” or “the hard way.”

Speaking at the White House, Trump argued that full control is essential for national security, saying “ownership” matters because “you don’t defend leases the same way — you have to own it.”

The comments marked Trump’s strongest statements yet about acquiring the massive Arctic island and came just days after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said military force was “always an option.”

Trump made the remarks during a meeting with oil executives that focused on dividing Venezuela’s energy resources following a US operation over the weekend that led to the capture of that country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

Addressing potential alternatives, Trump dismissed ideas such as Denmark allowing a larger US military presence or Greenland entering a free-association agreement with an independent local government.

“When we own it, we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way. You have to own it,” Trump said.

“Countries can’t make nine-year deals, or even 100-year deals. Countries have to have ownership. And you defend ownership, you don’t defend leases, and we’ll have to defend Greenland. If we don’t do it, China or Russia will — not going to happen.”

With a population of roughly 57,000, Greenland would become the largest territorial acquisition in US history, surpassing both the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Alaska Purchase in 1867.

While Trump has long been portrayed as eager to secure a historic real estate-style deal by bringing Greenland under the American flag, he said Friday that price negotiations are not his immediate focus.

“I’m not talking about money for Greenland yet. I might talk about that, but right now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump said.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Trump has weighed offering payments of up to $100,000 per Greenland resident to encourage voluntary annexation, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the administration is exploring the possibility of purchasing the territory.

Rubio, who sat beside Trump during Friday’s event, is expected to meet with Danish officials next week amid anger in Copenhagen over Trump’s remarks.

“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said.

“And by the way, I’m a fan of Denmark too, I have to tell you. And you know, they’ve been very nice to me. I’m a big fan. But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned Monday that any US military seizure of Greenland would effectively destroy NATO, reiterating her longstanding refusal to consider giving up the territory — a stance that previously led Trump to cancel a planned 2019 visit after what he called her “nasty” rejection.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen said. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, also rejected Trump’s comments, saying simply that “our country is not for sale.”

{Matzav.com}

The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide. Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and […]

Using a New York state assistance program meant to help an elderly parent, Ballal Hossain enrolled more than a dozen relatives as paid caregivers for his sick mother. Over a six-year period, the family collected $348,000 for providing in-home care at a Manhattan apartment.

But prosecutors later determined that the woman was never there at all — she was living in Bangladesh the entire time.

According to authorities, Hossain managed to keep the scheme going by having his brother impersonate their mother whenever inspectors arrived. The ruse eventually unraveled, and Hossain was later sentenced on grand larceny charges, prosecutors said.

The NY Post reports that this case is one of the starkest illustrations of the scale of abuse tied to a state welfare initiative known as the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, which has drained hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars through fraud and waste.

Created in 1994, CDPAP was designed to allow elderly and disabled New Yorkers to remain in their homes instead of entering nursing facilities.

But because the program requires no medical licensing or professional credentials for caregivers, oversight remained minimal as enrollment ballooned.

An investigation by the NY Post found that at least $179 million has been stolen by CDPAP recipients over the past decade, while middlemen siphoned off an estimated $1 billion in taxpayer funds.

Richard Harrow, who spent 27 years prosecuting Medicaid fraud in New York and now works in Albany handling similar cases, said the scope of the problem dwarfs other high-profile scandals.

“If you think Minnesota is a big deal, multiply that by 10,” he told The Post, referencing Minnesota’s $1 billion daycare fraud case.

“CDPAP is the biggest fraud there is because it all takes place in people’s homes.”

The price tag for the program itself has surged dramatically.

In 2019, CDPAP cost the state $2.5 billion. By 2023, spending had climbed to $9.1 billion, making up a massive share of New York’s Medicaid budget. At that point, roughly 250,000 patients were enrolled, supported by about 400,000 caregivers, referred to in the program as “Personal Assistants.”

The New York State Department of Health acknowledged to The Post that CDPAP had become a “fiscal crisis.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul herself publicly criticized the program in 2024, calling it “one of the most abused programs in the history of New York,” and warning that “something has to give.”

Although Hochul pledged reforms and initiated consolidation efforts, enrollment continued to climb, surpassing 280,000 patients, with costs still rising.

By 2025, annual state spending on CDPAP had exploded to $12 billion, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“I was always worried about the high growth, and that people would be taking advantage of a program that was not tightly controlled,” said Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a non-partisan Albany think tank, in comments to The Post.

Those concerns were borne out in multiple major prosecutions over the last six years, the NY Post reports.

In 2025, Zakia Khan admitted guilt in what prosecutors described as “a sweeping scheme” that defrauded Medicaid of $68 million. Khan owned two adult daycare centers in Brooklyn and, according to the Department of Justice, paid bribes and kickbacks to patients for services that were never delivered between 2017 and 2024.

Court filings show that Khan and her co-conspirators then laundered the proceeds through other businesses they controlled.

Another major case surfaced in 2023, when Brooklyn healthcare executive Marianna Levin received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for stealing $100 million from Medicaid through fraudulent home health care claims.

From 2015 through December 2020, Medicaid reimbursed agencies run by Levin that purported to provide personal care services in New York City and Nassau County. Prosecutors said a substantial portion of those claims were fraudulent.

In 2019, Farrah Rubani, the head of Brooklyn-based Hopeton Care, was indicted by the New York Attorney General for allegedly embezzling $11 million.

Authorities said Rubani submitted false claims to Medicaid and used the proceeds for personal luxury purchases, including a $250,000 Bentley and an upscale vacation property. Her husband, a police officer, was accused of benefiting from the spending but was not charged.

Following the indictment, the Attorney General froze Medicaid payments to Hopeton Care along with all of Rubani’s assets.

Rubani, who denied the allegations at the time through her attorney, was never criminally convicted. Court records from 2025 show she later agreed to pay $148,000 in damages.

A LinkedIn profile under Rubani’s name indicates she remains active in the home health industry as a senior vice president at Extended Home Care. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful, and her former attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Abuse has also occurred at the individual caregiver level, according to sources familiar with the program.

As of 2026, personal assistants earn between $18.65 and $20.65 per hour. Investigators have found cases where caregivers billed Medicaid for services while patients were hospitalized, after patients had died, or for caring for two individuals simultaneously in different locations.

One healthcare source told The Post: “We’ve identified several examples of personal assistants manipulating the system to work 23-hour days for family members, with projected annual earnings of around $200,000.”

Another major vulnerability involved the so-called “facilitators” — private companies acting as fiscal intermediaries that processed payroll and billing.

In 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced a settlement with two Brooklyn-based agencies serving in that role.

Edison Home Health Care and Preferred Home Healthcare agreed to pay more than $17 million after being accused of defrauding Medicaid and underpaying more than 25,000 home health aides.

By the time Hochul began restructuring CDPAP in 2023, the state was paying over 600 intermediary companies, with annual costs estimated between $500 million and $1 billion, according to sources.

Some intermediaries charged as much as $1,000 per patient each month, despite performing little more than basic payroll processing.

“There were no standards for who could do it, no certification,” Hammond said. “Anyone could set up one of these companies.”

Sources who reviewed the costs told The Post that the same services are now being performed for more than 93% less — at about $68.50 per person, per month.

In response, New York State eliminated all intermediary companies and replaced them with a single provider, Georgia-based Public Partnerships, LLC.

The transition was rocky, triggering lawsuits from displaced companies and taking until April 2025 to fully implement.

The Department of Health said the consolidation has already produced major savings and is expected to significantly reduce future costs.

“New York State took significant steps to reverse the CDPAP fiscal crisis by reining in administrative costs and establishing systems to eliminate opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse,” a department spokesperson told The Post.

“Fraudsters fought tooth and nail for over a decade to keep [the old] broken system in place – but those days are over because we shut them down.

“The State Department of Health … [cut] out hundreds of middlemen – saving $1 billion for taxpayers over the past year and protecting home care for people who actually need it.”

Sources also cited what they described as a “$10 million dark money campaign” allegedly aimed at blocking CDPAP reforms.

The Medicaid Inspector General said investigators identified more than $3.5 million in CDPAP overpayments between 2019 and 2024, all of which have since been recovered.

A spokesperson for Public Partnerships echoed the state’s position, saying the company’s role is focused exclusively on safeguarding public funds.

“We have delivered meaningful accountability and long-term stability for CDPAP . . . ensuring this critical program remains viable for years to come.”

{Matzav.com}

A suspect already charged in a series of rock-throwing incidents across Bergen County, NJ has been taken into custody following an attack on a school bus along the New Jersey Turnpike that left an 8-year-old girl seriously hurt, according to state police.

Investigators named the suspect as Hernando Garcia Morales, 40, last known to have lived in Palisades Park. Authorities said he was arrested Friday at Overpeck Park, where police believe he had been staying in a makeshift campsite close to where the assault occurred.

The incident unfolded Wednesday afternoon as a bus transporting third-grade students from Yeshivat Noam in Paramus was traveling back from a class trip to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Police said a rock roughly the size of a baseball was thrown through a bus window, striking the young girl in the head.

The child was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was initially reported to be alert and in stable condition. She later underwent surgery, which school officials said was required to ensure proper recovery.

State police said Morales had been awaiting trial on prior cases involving similar behavior. Those included an aggravated assault incident in Bogota last summer that resulted in a two-month jail stay. Court records show he was released in September and then charged twice more in October in cases involving alleged assaults on law enforcement officers.

Authorities also noted that Morales had been involved in other recent encounters with police, including allegations related to criminal mischief and trespassing.

Despite his record, officials said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not lodged a detainer against Morales as of Saturday, meaning his immigration status is not part of the current case.

Morales is currently being held at the Bergen County jail and is not eligible for release under New Jersey’s bail reform law. Prosecutors have filed multiple charges against him, including aggravated assault, child endangerment, resisting arrest, and weapons-related offenses.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump announced Friday that he is pressing credit card issuers to limit interest charges to 10% for a one-year period starting later this month.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump blasted current rates and said action is needed to protect consumers. “Please be informed that we will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration. AFFORDABILITY!,” he wrote.

Trump said the proposed cap would begin soon. “Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,” he stated. “Coincidentally, the January 20th date will coincide with the one year anniversary of the historic and very successful Trump Administration.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The idea of imposing a ceiling on credit card interest is not new for Trump. He previously raised the proposal while campaigning, arguing that families needed relief as they struggled with rising costs.

“While working Americans catch up, we’re going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates,” Trump said during a campaign stop at Nassau Coliseum in September 2024.

Banking industry groups pushed back at the time, warning that government-mandated limits could lead lenders to restrict credit access only to borrowers with high incomes and top-tier credit scores.

Trump’s pledge followed a sharp rise in borrowing costs, with average credit card interest rates hitting a record 21.76% in August 2024. Since Trump returned to office, those rates have edged lower, falling to just under 21% — about 20.97% — as of last November.

After Trump first raised the proposal, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced legislation shortly after Trump’s inauguration that would have imposed a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for five years. The measure was sent to committee and never advanced to a vote.

Reacting to Trump’s latest call, Hawley praised the move and suggested Congress may need to step in to force compliance by lenders. “Fantastic idea. Can’t wait to vote for this,” Hawley wrote on X Friday.

{Matzav.com}

Thousands of anti-ICE protesters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles.

Trump has ordered U.S. special forces to draft invasion plans for Greenland, but senior military leaders say it would be illegal and lack Congressional backing, according to the Daily Mail. * Stephen Miller and hardline advisers, emboldened by the Maduro operation, are pushing to move before Russia or China can act in the Arctic. * […]

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Saturday a new initiative to expand public bathroom access across the city.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna makes criminal referrals to the DOJ for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Photo from Tehran shows protesters gathered around a Starlink terminal—their only link to the outside world—holding up pictures of Elon Musk and President Trump in appreciation.

Multiple international airlines, including Turkish Airlines, flydubai, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, AJet, Pegasus Airlines, Qatar Airways, and China Southern Airlines, have canceled or suspended flights to Iran amid escalating anti-regime protests.

Unconfirmed reports circulating from regional sources and social media claim that Reza Kasab, a commander in Iran’s missile forces in Kashan, was killed when a suicide drone struck his vehicle inside Iran. The reports say the attack originated from within Iran, though no group or government has claimed responsibility.

ICE Watch — a far-left activist network that Renee Nicole Good belonged to before she was killed in Minneapolis — focuses on monitoring and “resisting” immigration enforcement actions by using mobile apps and a rapid-response phone line.

The Minnesota chapter tied to Good, who was 37, describes itself online as “an autonomous collective documenting, archiving, and resisting against ICE, Police, and all Colonial Militarized Regimes,” according to language posted on its Instagram account.

Through its MN ICE Watch page, the organization urges supporters to submit “tips and sightings” of ICE activity around the clock, seven days a week.

Organizers direct participants to provide specifics when reporting activity, including “how many agents are present” and whether “they are detaining/ kidnapping someone,” as well as the location, according to the page.

Activists are also asked to note “what weapons” agents may be carrying and “what vehicles are they present with.”

One recently reshared post advertises training sessions on “how to stand with…neighbors and assert their rights against these illegal injustices across MN and the rest of the Midwest!”

While the broader network, which has chapters nationwide including in New York City, does not explicitly tell supporters to disrupt arrests, it appears to skirt that line.

The Minnesota group, however, reportedly amplified an Instagram post explaining how to “de-arrest” someone.

According to National Review, the post — which was no longer visible as of Friday — encouraged actions such as “physically removing an arrestee from a law enforcement officer’s grips, opening the door of a car or pressuring law enforcement officers to release an arrestee.”

Other content shared by the group includes videos labeled as ICE “kidnapping” incidents, including footage timestamped at 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 2 in Fridley, Minn.

“ICE/Fed agents appear to pull up to the citizens driveway blocking his exit. The ICE/Fed agents open his door detaining and remove him from the truck,” the post declares. “Appears to be 3-4 vehicles, and 6 ICE/fed agents.”

Good, whom a friend referred to as an ICE Watch “warrior,” was shot and killed Wednesday by an ICE agent after her SUV struck him.

{Matzav.com}

Fighting in Gaza could soon flare up again as momentum fades around President Trump’s proposed agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to reports describing a breakdown in progress on the truce.

Israeli defense planners have completed preparations for another ground incursion into Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the discussions.

According to the Times of Israel, the renewed campaign is tentatively slated for March and would concentrate on Gaza City, with the objective of broadening Israeli Defense Force control over key areas.

At the same time, Israeli and Arab officials say Hamas has not moved toward disarmament and instead has been steadily rebuilding its military strength.

The group has reportedly replenished its finances by tapping cash hidden in underground tunnels during the fighting and by imposing taxes on commerce and services throughout Gaza.

Officials also said Hamas has received additional funding from Iran.

With new resources in hand, the organization has resumed paying its fighters and increased recruitment efforts to replace senior operatives killed during the two-year conflict with Israel, according to the report.

Since a cease-fire took effect in October, Hamas has also tightened its grip on Gaza by suppressing rival factions, a move that has triggered violent confrontations across the battered territory.

Oversight of the fragile agreement’s second phase will fall to a newly created Board of Peace, which President Trump is expected to unveil next week along with the names of 15 global leaders who will serve on it. The panel will be responsible for deciding how Hamas’ disarmament would be implemented and what weapons would be included.

Arab officials say Hamas has signaled a readiness to give up what remains of its heavy weaponry but has drawn a firm line against handing over small arms.

“They’ve made an agreement that they’re going to disarm,” Trump said Friday on Fox News. “We’re going to have to assume that they’re going to, but you know it’s not their nature to disarm.”

Trump has previously warned that Hamas would be granted “a very short period of time” to surrender its weapons or face severe consequences, yet he has also made clear that he does not intend to delay the second phase of the plan — which envisions an International Stabilization Force policing Gaza — while waiting for that process to unfold.

Earlier this week, Trump appointed Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, to head the Board of Peace.

Mladenov met Thursday in Yerushalayim with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and held talks Friday with Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank.

According to an Arab diplomat speaking to the Times of Israel, any Israeli offensive would require backing from Washington, which continues to push for advancement of the cease-fire framework.

Netanyahu, however, is said to doubt that the Trump-led international body can successfully disarm Hamas, prompting him to instruct the IDF to ready what he described as a “contingency plan.”

{Matzav.com}

Minnesota leaders urged protesters to remain peaceful Saturday as thousands of people converged on a Minneapolis park to decry the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer in that city and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon. The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and […]

President Trump on Tuesday amplified a message from US Sen. Lindsey Graham, circulating the South Carolina Republican’s warning to Tehran that the regime’s harsh crackdown on its own citizens “will not go unchallenged.”

“This is truly not the Obama administration when it comes to standing up to the Iranian ayatollah and his religious Nazi henchmen, and standing behind the people of Iran protesting for a better life,” Graham wrote on X earlier in the day. “To the regime leadership: your brutality against the great people of Iran will not go unchallenged. Make Iran Great Again.”

Trump shared the post on his Truth Social account.

Graham’s blistering comments followed an earlier show of support for Iranian civilians issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Demonstrations inside Iran have entered their second week, with reports indicating that more than 200 protesters may have been killed amid the unrest.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote in a message posted early this morning.

Graham later issued another statement, saying he was proud of Rubio and President Trump for backing Iranians “who are rightly protesting against their oppression.”

Those expressions of support came after Iranian authorities declared that protesters would be treated as “enemies of God,” an accusation under Iranian law that can carry the death penalty.

Earlier this week, Trump voiced support for Iran’s population and warned the regime against using lethal force, saying, “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded by accusing Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” during remarks broadcast on Friday.

“[The terrorists] are ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States because he said that he would come to their aid,” Khamenei told supporters who were chanting “Death to America!”

“He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Leaders in France, Britain, and Germany have also denounced the killing of protesters by Iranian authorities, though they have refrained from issuing threats of retaliation.

Iran has been plunged into a communications blackout after officials shut down internet service and international phone access on Thursday.

The demonstrations, which began on Dec. 28 over economic grievances, have since escalated into open calls for the overthrow of the regime, marking the most serious challenge to Iran’s leadership in years.

{Matzav.com}

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The Trump administration is said to be drawing up early-stage contingency plans for possible military action against Iran, including scenarios involving widespread air operations.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, officials are examining how to act on President Trump’s recent sharpened warnings toward Tehran, including identifying potential targets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Among the possibilities under review is a broad airstrike campaign hitting several Iranian military installations, though officials stressed that no final agreement has been reached on any course of action.

People briefed on the matter said no American troops or hardware have been repositioned in anticipation of an attack.

The internal deliberations, they emphasized, should not be interpreted as a decision to strike, noting that such planning is a standard part of military preparedness.

Even so, Trump suggested publicly that the United States could respond forcefully if Iran continues its crackdown on protesters, writing on Truth Social over the weekend.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” he wrote today. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”

A U.S. strike on Iranian soil would not be without precedent. In June, Trump authorized the first direct American attack inside Iran.

During that operation, U.S. forces dropped at least six “bunker buster” bombs on three locations, including the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, a heavily fortified site buried nearly 300 feet beneath a mountain.

That bombing followed Iranian threats to deploy its nuclear capabilities against Israel during the 12-Day War and was coordinated with Israel’s own large-scale strikes on Iranian military assets in and around Tehran.

The renewed possibility of U.S. involvement comes after Trump repeatedly warned that Washington would act in defense of Iranian protesters if the regime continued violent repression.

“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump warned Friday.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded by accusing Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians,” in remarks broadcast the same day.

“[The terrorists] are ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States because he said that he would come to their aid,” Khamenei said before a crowd chanting “Death to America!”

“He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Today, Iranian authorities escalated their rhetoric further, warning that protesters — as well as anyone assisting them — would be treated as “enemies of God,” an offense that carries the death penalty.

Meanwhile, reported fatalities from the unrest have climbed to at least 65 people, including 50 protesters, with growing concern among observers that the real number of deaths may exceed 200.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed solidarity on Friday with what he called the “brave people of Iran,” as mass demonstrations demanding the downfall of the regime spread across Tehran and beyond, amid rising concern that fatalities have surpassed 200.

Preliminary figures compiled by the Iranian human rights organization HRANA indicate that by Jan. 9, at least 65 people had been killed, including 50 demonstrators and 15 members of the security forces, though activists warn the actual number could be far higher.

One physician told TIME that six hospitals in Tehran alone had documented at least 217 deaths among protesters, with victims dying “most by live ammunition.”

As unrest deepened, Iran’s supreme leader placed the country’s security apparatus on its highest state of readiness.

According to sources cited by The Telegraph, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to activate so-called “missile cities,” vast underground stockpiles housing ballistic weapons.

“The IRGC’s underground missile cities – which were deliberately kept intact during the 12-day war – are all on high alert,” the insider said, warning that any U.S. involvement could ignite an “apocalyptic” conflict.

The IRGC, in a public statement issued Friday, declared that maintaining security was a “red line,” while the armed forces pledged to defend public infrastructure.

Iranian authorities characterized those taking part in the unrest as “terrorists,” accusing them of attacking military and police facilities over the past two nights, resulting in deaths among civilians and security personnel and widespread property damage.

Late Friday night, a municipal building in Karaj, west of the capital, was set ablaze.

Demonstrations were also reported in Shiraz, Qom, and Hamedan, signaling the breadth of the uprising.

The military warnings followed comments from President Trump, who voiced support for Iranian protesters and cautioned Tehran against violent suppression.

“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump said. “I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now.”

Rubio echoed that message in a post early Friday morning.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran, he posted to X.

Iran has remained largely cut off from the outside world since Thursday, after authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown and severed international phone connections.

France, Britain, and Germany released a joint statement condemning the killings, saying they “strongly” denounce the violence directed at protesters.

“The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,” the trio wrote.

“We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens.”

In a separate message posted on X, opposition figure Reza Pahlavi escalated his rhetoric, urging demonstrators to move beyond street protests.

“Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them,” he said.

Pahlavi also appealed to “workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially transportation, and oil, and gas and energy,” to launch a nationwide strike.

The wave of unrest began on Dec. 28, initially fueled by economic hardship, but has since evolved into a direct challenge to the ruling system, marking the most serious threat to Iran’s leadership in years.

Authorities have detained more than 2,500 people in connection with the protests over the past two weeks.

{Matzav.com}