U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, threatening military intervention if the Iranian government violently suppresses protesters, stating on his Truth Social platform that "if Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue" and adding, "We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

This comes amid escalating riots across Iran that have resulted in at least seven reported deaths, with demonstrations initially sparked by economic hardship, including the rial's collapse to 1.4 million per U.S. dollar, and have since evolved into broader anti-government unrest.

Iranian leaders have responded with fierce condemnation, accusing the U.S. and Israel of instigating the unrest and warning that any American intervention would lead to regional chaos and make U.S. military bases legitimate targets.

Protests have spread across multiple cities, including Tehran, Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Azna, Marvdasht, Lordegan, and Fuladshahr, with demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans and demanding economic reforms.

At least seven protesters, including 28-year-old barber Shayan Asadollahi, have died from security forces' live fire, amid over 30 injuries and 119 arrests.

Videos circulating online show clashes between protesters and security forces, including gunshots and burning vehicles, with one video showing a crowd cheering as police station was attacked in Azna. The death of 21-year-old Amirhessam Khodayari in Kouhdasht has sparked further unrest, with his family denying he was a member of the Basij militia as claimed by state media.

Iranian security forces reportedly raided a home in Neyshabur, and Allegedly arrested a woman who received guidance information from Israel's Mossad to organize violent riots in the next coming days.

The protests began after the rial’s collapse and the ousting of central bank chief Mohammad Reza Farzin, signaling internal dissatisfaction within Iran’s leadership. Counter-protests have also started in several cities in Iran. The unrest follows a 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, during which the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, prompting Iran to retaliate by attacking Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue," Trump wrote on Truth Social, Friday. "We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Iranian officials have uniformly rejected Trump’s threat. Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, stated that U.S. interference would cause regional chaos and destroy American interests, while also alleging that the U.S. and Israel are stoking the protests without providing evidence.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that any interventionist hand near Iran’s security would be "cut off before it can act," referencing past U.S. military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf declared all American bases and forces in the region "legitimate targets" in response to any U.S. adventurism.

Despite Iran’s recent announcement that it is no longer enriching uranium to signal openness to negotiations, talks with the West have not resumed due to warnings from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against any reconstitution of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has acknowledged the legitimacy of protesters’ grievances but admitted he lacks the power to address the economic crisis.

Israeli cybersecurity billionaire Shlomo Kramer has sparked widespread backlash after calling on the U.S. government to restrict the First Amendment during a recent appearance on CNBC. "I know it's difficult to hear, but it's time to limit the First Amendment in order to protect it," he said.

The First Amendment to the U.S. constitution prohibits the government (federal, state, and local, via the 14th Amendment) from restricting speech based on its content, especially political or unpopular views. Core political speech receives the highest protection, allowing robust criticism of the government and debate on public issues.

Kramer, co-founder of Check Point Software Technologies, said that it is "time to limit the First Amendment in order to protect it" and advocated for government control over all social media platforms, proposing the use of artificial intelligence to assess the authenticity and credibility of online speakers.

The Jewish billionaire asserted that social platforms should be regulated to "stack rank the authenticity of every person that expresses themselves online" and that the government should take control over what individuals say based on that ranking.

Kramer's remarks Thursday, have drawn sharp criticism for a foreign national suggesting changes to American constitutional rights. Critcs expressed outrage at the overreach and foreign interference in U.S. free speech.

The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed a cybersecurity breach on December 30, 2025, involving a limited number of external servers located outside its corporate network, following claims by a hacker using the alias “888” who offered 200 GB of allegedly stolen data for sale on the BreachForums dark web marketplace.

The hacker claimed to have accessed ESA systems starting December 18, maintaining access for about a week and exfiltrating data including source code, API and access tokens, configuration files, credentials, and internal documentation.

The breach was first reported on December 26, 2025, when the hacker “888” posted on BreachForums, claiming to have stolen over 200 GB of data from ESA’s infrastructure, including private Bitbucket repositories, CI/CD pipeline configurations, Terraform and SQL files, and hardcoded credentials.

The threat actor provided screenshots as proof, allegedly showing access to internal systems such as Jira, Bitbucket, and configuration files, though the authenticity of these images has not been independently verified.

ESA confirmed the incident on December 29, 2025, and reiterated on December 30 that the impact was limited to a small set of external servers not connected to its core corporate systems.

Despite the hacker’s claims, ESA has not confirmed the full scope of the data theft but acknowledged unauthorized access and stated that all relevant stakeholders have been notified.

The agency has emphasized that the compromised systems were used for unclassified scientific collaboration, but the exposure of source code and access tokens could pose downstream security risks if credentials are reused in operational environments.

ESA has initiated a forensic investigation and stated that the affected servers supported unclassified collaborative engineering activities within the scientific community, emphasizing that no highly sensitive or classified information was compromised.

In a statement posted on X on December 30, 2025, the agency announced it had launched a forensic investigation and implemented containment measures to secure potentially affected devices.ESA.

“ESA is aware of a recent cybersecurity issue involving servers located outside the ESA corporate network,” the X post reads. “We have initiated a forensic security analysis—currently in progress—and implemented measures to secure any potentially affected devices.”

The agency stressed that the compromised servers were “outside the ESA corporate network”, suggesting that they contained data that cannot be labeled as highly sensitive.

“Our analysis so far indicates that only a very small number of external servers may have been impacted,” the tweet further explains. “These servers support unclassified collaborative engineering activities within the scientific community. All relevant stakeholders have been informed, and we will provide further updates as soon as additional information becomes available.”

This incident is not the first for ESA; in late 2024, its online merchandise store was compromised via malicious JavaScript injected during checkout, leading to the theft of customer payment and personal data.