Protests in Iran have entered their twelfth day, spreading across dozens of provinces, alongside calls by the opposition for larger demonstrations amid fears of an internet shutdown. The scope of the protests has also expanded to include political demands opposing the authorities.
In this context, CNN shed light on the reasons why the Iranian regime is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela. The network’s correspondent, Mustafa Salim, said that as protests in Iran have widened in recent days due to deteriorating economic conditions, events in the Western Hemisphere have drawn particular attention. He stated that US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of the regime in Tehran, and transferred him to the United States.
He added that both Iran and Venezuela are oil-rich states, yet they suffer from deepening economic collapse as a result of harsh US sanctions. The two regimes have long been adversaries of the United States, and President Trump has issued direct threats against the governments of both countries.
Mustafa explained that these similarities have prompted observers to question whether a similar US military operation to that carried out in Venezuela could target Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He added, however, that this option is unlikely due to major differences between the two countries, particularly in their political environments. Iran is a religious state whose ideology is based on Shiite doctrine, while Venezuela is a secular socialist state.
He noted that Iran has long believed that the United States seeks to bring about regime change in Tehran. As a result, it has built a massive arsenal of weapons, including ballistic missiles and drones, in addition to forming proxy groups strategically positioned near US interests in the region.
The CNN correspondent explained that when the occupying state launched a twelve-day war against Iran last June, Iranians from across the political spectrum, including opposition figures, united in rejecting foreign intervention or military strikes against their country. He stressed that the situation is far more complex than a simple comparison.
He added that one possible outcome of what happened in Venezuela is that the Iranian regime, which classifies protesters as rioters, mercenaries, and foreign saboteurs, may intensify its crackdown on an opposition that aspires to change.
For its part, the French newspaper Le Monde said in a report translated by Arabi21 that heightened tensions between Iran and the United States and the occupying state, alongside the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, one of Tehran’s most prominent allies, coincided with a new wave of protests in Iran that has continued for days.
The newspaper reported that US President Donald Trump renewed his support on 4 January for Iranian protesters who have taken to the streets since 28 December 2025. Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One, he said, “If they start killing people as they have done in the past, I think they will face very harsh strikes from the United States.”
The newspaper added that this statement reaffirmed a warning Trump had posted two days earlier on his platform Truth Social, in which he stressed that Washington would provide direct support to peaceful protesters if the Iranian authorities resorted to violently suppressing them.
The human rights organisation Hrana published a video it said was from Kuh Shanar district in Fars province in southern Iran, showing protesters chanting as they smashed a statue of the former commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a US air strike in Baghdad in 2020.
The organisation stated that it recorded protest activity in 348 locations across all 31 provinces of Iran in recent days. It also published a video of a gathering in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, during which fires were set, as well as images showing security forces using tear gas to disperse protesters in the city of Tonekabon overlooking the Caspian Sea in northern Iran.
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How shortsighted and totally suffering from amnesia are these protestors in Iran. Do they actually think that the serpents from the USA and the demonic cult are there to help them? What foolishness and how easy they’ve made it for the snakes to take over! Allah Subhaanhu Watallah has said that such folk are deaf, dumb and blind to the truth and here we have it. They are walking into this trap 🤡