The Trump administration is urging American citizens to leave Iran immediately as the president escalates his threats to use military action against the Middle Eastern nation amid a violent government crackdown on protesters.
The US military is also withdrawing some personnel from its largest airbase in the Middle East in Qatar on January 14, according to various media reports.
Graphic: See maps of protests in Iran as Trump threatens military action
Various human rights and conflict monitoring groups are estimating the death toll to be in the thousands as the country erupts in the most expansive anti-government protests in years. Iranians took to the streets in late December due to an economic recession accelerated by the collapse of the national currency.
The protests, now in their third week, have escalated into nationwide unrest as thousands of Iranians voice grievances beyond the economic crisis, including a crackdown on the social and cultural restrictions of the Islamic Republic’s clerical rule.
On January 13, the United States urged American citizens to leave the country. The virtual embassy of the United States in Tehran advised in a notice that people leave Iran by land to Turkey or Armenia. The United States has not had an embassy in Iran since the 1979 revolution, when a group of Iranian students seized the building and held more than 50 Americans hostage for 444 days.
At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, officials told Reuters that the withdrawal was a precautionary measure due to rising regional tensions and that any further developments would be announced through official channels.
Iran targeted the air base with a missile attack in June 2025, in response to US attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities days earlier in connection with the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran. Over the weekend, Iran warned it could hit Israel or US bases in the Middle East if the US attacked.
The death toll rises
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says it has verified the deaths of more than 2,400 protesters as of early January 14, and more than 18,000 arrests.
“A massacre is unfolding in the country from the shutdown of the internet and communications,” Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, told USA TODAY on January 12. “It is a war that is being waged on the protesters.”
A group of Iranian students attend a protest in front of the British embassy following anti-government protests in Tehran, Iran, on January 14, 2026.
The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights put the death toll even higher, reporting that more than 3,400 protesters were killed, and thousands injured. It is estimated that more than 10,000 people have been arrested since the protests began.
In the latest update of the human rights group, they narrate reports of injured individuals who have been “finished” by the authorities on the streets and in medical facilities, and that the state forces in the city of Karaj have used heavy machine guns against the demonstrators.
More: Iran fires hundreds in new wave of protests, rights groups say
Another human rights group, the Center for Human Rights in Iran, published first-hand testimony from a doctor who said mass casualty conditions were overwhelming hospitals, and authorities were following wounded protesters into medical facilities. The doctor said that most of the wounded suffered gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, and many arrived at the hospital dead.
Experts warn that the death toll may be underreported, as the country is still in an almost total internet blackout that has made external communication difficult.
US, Iran trade threats as tensions rise
Trump has increased his language in recent days, threatening to intervene and saying he will use military force in support of the protesters.
A day after the Trump administration said it was considering striking Iran, Trump on January 13 encouraged Iranian protesters to continue the fight and promised that “help is on the way.”
“Iranian patriots, CONTINUE PROTEST – TAKE YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the murderers and abusers. They will pay a heavy price,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON THE WAY. MIGA!!!”
US President Donald Trump gestures at the Detroit Economic Club in Detroit, Michigan, the United States, January 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Trump also announced a tariff on goods from any nation that does business with Iran and warned Iran that the United States will take “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters.
Amid threats exchanged between the two countries in recent days, Iranian officials and the President have also shown the willingness to take a diplomatic route. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on January 12 that the country was prepared for war but also open to dialogue.
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in Karaj, was to be executed on 14 January.
Burnt vehicles lie on the road after unrest sparked by dire economic conditions, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 10, 2026, in this video released by Iran’s state media.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary General António Guterres shortly after Trump’s comments, the Iranian government accused the American President of a “flagrant” violation of the principles of international law. They asked Guterres to condemn “all forms of incitement to violence, threats to use force, and interference in Iran’s internal affairs” by the United States.
Iranian authorities have accused the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, perpetrated by what they call armed terrorists.
Guterres expressed concern about the violent crackdown and called on Iranian authorities to exercise restraint and refrain from “unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.” Foreign leaders have also expressed condemnation and alarm over the crackdown. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described it as “the most violent crackdown in Iran’s contemporary history.”
Contributing: Reuters.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily political newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US citizens told to leave Iran amid country’s crackdown on protests