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As anti-regime protests continue to spread across Iran and questions swirl about the durability of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule, a central question looms: Who would actually take power if the Islamic Republic were to collapse?

The answer, according to regional experts and Iranian opposition figures, is far from clear. It may depend less on ideology than on how the regime falls and whether Iran’s security forces fracture or hold.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the critical variable is not simply whether the regime collapses, but how it happens.

"Despite being supreme leader, one has to wonder, especially post-war and with limited public appearances, how much Khamenei is directly governing the affairs of the country," Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. He warned Western governments against backing a cosmetic transition that merely reshuffles elites.

"One thing I fear is the Western temptation for a Maduro-type or Egypt-type model," he said, referring to scenarios in which entrenched security forces retain power under new leadership. "That will only be playing musical chairs at the top and will not provide the Iranian people a pathway for meaningful change."

Ben Taleblu argued that Iran’s opposition faces a logistical challenge more than an ideological one: translating sustained street protests into organized political power before security forces reassert control.

Multiple experts agreed that Iran’s future hinges on whether the regime’s coercive apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij militia and the regular military, remains intact.

Ben Taleblu said the key factor is whether segments of the security forces defect, refuse orders or fragment. "What has to be chipped away is the regime’s coercive power," he said, adding that a transition would require sustained protests, economic strikes and cracks within security units.

Without that, analysts warn, Iran could see a scenario in which clerical figureheads disappear but real power remains in the hands of armed institutions.

"That’s the fear," Ben Taleblu said. "If the state plays musical chairs, the street will not settle for it. That means a bumpier road ahead."

TRUMP SAYS US WILL INTERVENE IF IRAN STARTS KILLING PROTESTERS: ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’

Some analysts point to historical precedents, including Egypt, where the military stepped in amid unrest. Benny Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said a military-led transition cannot be ruled out, but would be fraught.

"IRGC generals could theoretically attempt a coup," Sabti told Fox News Digital, stressing that Iran’s military institutions are not monolithic. He distinguished between the IRGC, which he described as an ideological and asymmetric force, and the regular army, which he said is more professional and nationally oriented.

Sabti highlighted former armed forces chief Habibollah Sayyari as an example of a figure who has voiced limited criticism from within the system. Still, he cautioned that criticism alone does not make a leader and said charisma matters deeply in Iranian politics.

"There is a problem of charisma," Sabti said. "In Iran, it is very important."

Despite international attention on jailed activists, experts are skeptical that Iran’s next political leadership would emerge from within the country’s prison system.

Ben Taleblu said decades of repression have made it nearly impossible to cultivate political leadership inside Iran. "What will come from within are the forces of revolution," he said. "Political leadership has to be built outside."

Sabti echoed that view, saying freed prisoners would likely become part of a broader system rather than dominant leaders.

"There won’t be leaders coming out of prison," he said. "They will be part of a new system, but not charismatic leaders."

Supporters of Reza Pahlavi say he is emerging as a focal point for opposition mobilization amid escalating unrest. On January 8, Pahlavi publicly called on Iranians to chant at 8 p.m. from their homes or in the streets and his aides said large crowds responded across multiple cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Ahvaz and Tabriz.

Those close to Pahlavi describe him as advocating a secular, democratic Iran committed to human rights, while rejecting claims that he is seeking to restore the monarchy. Pahlavi has repeatedly said the form of Iran’s future system should be decided by the people through a free constitutional process.

"My role is not to tip the scales in favor of either monarchy or republic," Pahlavi said. "I will remain entirely impartial in the process to help ensure that Iranians finally have the right to choose freely."

Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the "Iran So Far Away" Substack, told Fox News Digital that Pahlavi is the only viable unifying figure capable of guiding a transition, a view strongly contested by others in the diaspora.

IRAN CRACKDOWN RATTLES MIDDLE EAST AS ANALYSTS WEIGH US OPTIONS SHORT OF MILITARY INTERVENTION

"The only person who can see this through is the crown prince," Zand said, arguing that any prominent figure inside Iran would be swiftly eliminated by the regime. She dismissed alternative opposition figures as lacking legitimacy inside the country.

Zand said chants supporting Pahlavi during recent protests reflect genuine sentiment, not fabrication, though such claims are difficult to independently verify amid internet shutdowns and state censorship.

Some experts caution that while Pahlavi has visibility in the West and among parts of the Iranian public, he remains a polarizing figure, particularly among Iranians wary of monarchy or external influence.

Another long-standing opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, led by Maryam Rajavi, has received backing from some senior U.S. political figures from across the aisle over the years, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rudy Giuliani. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rajavi said change "will not come from outside Iran, nor will it be delivered by the will of foreign capitals," arguing that only an organized, nationwide resistance can overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Rajavi pointed to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and its "Resistance Units" as the core force behind recent uprisings, claiming they have played a decisive role in organizing protests and confronting security forces at the cost of heavy casualties. She said the National Council of Resistance of Iran does not seek power for itself, but instead proposes a six-month provisional period following the regime’s overthrow, culminating in free elections for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for a democratic, secular republic.

"Once established, all authority will be transferred to that Assembly, which will both select the provisional government and draft the constitution of the new republic," Rajavi said. "Gender equality in all its facets, the separation of religion and state, autonomy for Iranian Kurdistan and many other urgent matters have been ratified in detail by the NCRI."

Rajavi also cited what she described as broad international backing for the NCRI’s platform. Critics and analysts interviewed by Fox News Digital dispute the group’s level of support inside Iran. Sabti said the MEK’s history of violence in the 1980s and its rigid ideology have alienated younger Iranians.

Speaking to an NCRI conference in Washington D.C. last November, Pompeo pushed back against critics, stating "A thriving, democratic, popular government in Iran—not a theocracy, not a monarchy, not an oppressive regime. This will be a great thing for the entire world. We are waiting for that day, and it will be a blessing to us all."

Ben Taleblu also warned against Western governments "playing favorites" among exiled factions, saying legitimacy must ultimately come from inside Iran.

Despite intense speculation, experts agreed on one point: there is no clear successor waiting in the wings.

"We are not there yet," Sabti said, noting that Khamenei remains alive, and the security forces have not fractured.

Ben Taleblu described the moment as a marathon rather than a sprint, warning against simplistic narratives about regime collapse.

"This is about getting the best bridgehead to a post-Islamic Republic Iran," he said, "so that the forces of revolution inside can finally become voters and choose their own fate."

Following the ousting of Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3 after he and his wife were whisked away to face justice in NewYork, ordinary citizens of Venezuela are responding with a mix of relief, shock and uncertainty after 30 years of a brutal socialist dictatorship that bankrupted their nation.

While what happens next remains largely uncertain and multiple possibilities continue to be studied by Washington, the celebratory tones seen across the country and throughout the almost 9 million citizens in the diaspora on Saturday have largely subsided into muted and cautious joy only expressed in private circles among those who longed for an end to years of economic hardship and political repression.

Vera, a professor at one of the better known universities, told Fox News Digital that, "The world cannot fathom the joy we feel. Maduro is in a federal prison in the U.S. with living conditions and rights that our political prisoners never had. For me, it is comforting to know he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars eating rice and sausage and taking showers only three times a week, paying for damaging the lives of millions of Venezuelans."

PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON'T BE A 'SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS' AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR 'COOPERATION'

Yet fear remains. The government has decreed any celebration of current events — and even expressions of approval of the U.S. operation in written text messages — to be a crime equivalent to national treason. Worse yet: it has empowered any law officer to check citizens and their telephones at random at hundreds of checkpoints established throughout Caracas and other regions of the country.

Anyone found in violation of the decree can be immediately arrested without a trial, turning the promise of change into an anxiety-tempered state about what comes next and raising questions about sovereignty, daily survival and how to overcome yet another crisis.

For Jesús, a 23-year-old university student from a middle-class family in Caracas who also works for a local business, a single word defines this past week: stress. For safety reasons, he and other Venezuelans interviewed for this story requested either partial or complete anonymity due to the security situation.

"We cannot afford the luxury of staying home and waiting to see how things will unfold. I have my own private vehicle and drive extensively throughout Caracas to go and come back from work, school, and run errands," he said.

AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA POWER VACUUM EXPOSES BRUTAL INSIDERS AND ENFORCERS

"There are police cars and officers from the national, municipal, and local authorities stationed in every corner. Hundreds of checkpoints have sprung up across Caracas since the decree forbidding any celebratory expression at the U.S. operation that captured Maduro. At the first few days, there were also pro-government publicly armed colectivos (state-sanctioned citizen collectivities) doing the rounds to capture and violently repress anyone so much as expressing relief that Maduro was gone. It’s been extremely difficult having to remain vigilant at all times. From prior experiences, I learned to avoid most checkpoints through alternate ways and avoiding main roads. People have been sending texts saying where the checkpoints are and telling us to delete anything that shows our support for U.S. actions from our phones."

He continued, "For me, personally, it’s a time of mixed feelings. I am relieved to see Maduro gone and finally see a promise or discourse by either local or foreign governments to come to pass in Venezuela. While I obviously understand this only happened because of foreign interference, I much prefer a U.S. action that ends this dictatorship than preserving Venezuela’s sovereignty at the cost of our country. On the other hand, I am also frightened, because once you start dismantling the established structures, you end up having chaos, and in such a case, the population suffers the most."

Jesús adds that he transits through three main large groups of people — his student friends, his family and older relatives and his job. He adds that among his friends the mood is largely of hope that the U.S. might reshape the Venezuelan market and develop it into what he calls a "developed" system, where people can actually lead a better life. "We’ll finally stop being a Cuban colony and either be truly independent or a US.-.led country like the Dominican Republic. Nothing wrong with that. We’ll still be better off and more stable," he added.

TRUMP BACKS MADURO LOYALIST OVER VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER IN POST-CAPTURE TRANSITION

Among his relatives, the overarching tone is fear. So far, many of Maduro’s cronies remain in power and they don’t know how they might suddenly react under paranoia, people with private property, and especially a potential mandatory military draft.

"Finally, at work, there is apathy. I work in a rich neighborhood where lots of government officers and military people frequent. Obviously, police officers and other government officials who benefited from the corruption and criminality are against what happened, but most military personnel say they won’t die for something they didn’t sign up for because of a dictatorship. At my work we’ve seen so many broken promises, that we are only bracing to stay afloat," he concluded.

For Hannah, a recent graduate, there’s relief that Maduro is gone. "Obviously, things shouldn’t be like this, and Venezuelans should be the ones deciding the future of their own country, but Maduro had to leave one way or another, and now he is gone," she adds.

A business entrepreneur who requested to speak anonymously said there was very little inclination for Venezuelans in his position to speak to the press due to smear campaigns by the government and possible reprisals.

Based in Caracas, he said that stocks have been experiencing record highs both in trade and value since Saturday, with some of them reaching close to a 20% uptick since then.

"In the more pragmatic business elite in Venezuela, there is a lot of hope that a more normal business environment will be created now that Maduro is gone and if the U.S. plays the regime-change and economy-development cards right even if it is to favor themselves foremost. But even then, this would be a better environment for private businesses and an enormous market ripe for renovated activity. In that sense most people are hopeful that Maduro is finally gone, but obviously it’s hard to see your own country being attacked by a foreign power," he says.

Vera, the professor, says she has been out and about in Caracas since Jan. 4, and has not encountered any of the colectivos. She describes an overall sensation of relief a joy at seeing Maduro gone despite the many uncertainties.

"There is generalized uncertainty, but the collective sensation is relief. For the first time in 26 years of oppression, there is political change. I do have my personal reservations regarding Trump and the U.S., as there is evidently an economic interest on their part. We have one of the largest extra-heavy oil reserves in the world, on top of our reserves of gas, gold and coltan."

She continued, "The U.S. actions are not free, and we still need to see what the actual costs—which could be very high — will be. I am very sorry that this happened in my country and would be lying if I said I agreed with foreign incursions, but I am also of the opinion that our own Armed Forces should have listened to the majority of the citizens in the 2024 elections [when Maduro retained power despite losing the vote], but they chose to continue oppressing their own people. This is, therefore, part of the cost we should pay for their inoperancy," she said.

Vera cautions that reactivating Venezuela’s economic growth will be a medium-to-long term task, but that when the feeling of political change is real everything flows better, and the feeling of opportunity in the country is real right now.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is removing funding for its citizens to study in the United Kingdom, citing concerns they could be radicalized abroad. 

The move means the UAE has removed British universities from a list of higher education institutions eligible for state scholarships amid growing tensions over London's decision not to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, The Financial Times reported. 

"[The UAE] don’t want their kids to be radicalized on campus," a person directly involved with the decision told the outlet. 

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA ORDERED TO REINSTATE LAW STUDENT WHO WAS EXPELLED AFTER ANTI-JEWISH COMMENTS

Since then, Emirati students who have applied to their government for scholarships to study in the U.K. have been denied. 

The move also means that the UAE will not recognize qualifications from academic institutions that are not on its accredited list, rendering degrees from U.K. universities less valuable than others, according to the report. 

NYC STUDENTS EXPOSE 'EXTREMIST' PROFESSORS FOSTERING CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES

"All forms of extremism have absolutely no place in our society, and we will stamp them out wherever they are found," Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a statement. "We offer one of the best education systems in the world and maintain stringent measures on student welfare and on-campus safety."

The UAE has taken a hardline approach to Islamist movements abroad and at home. 

During the 2023-24 school year, 70 students at U.K. universities were reported for possible referral to the government’s deradicalization program, the report states. 

Starmer’s administration last year said the matter was under "close review."

Iran’s nationwide unrest entered its thirteenth day Friday, as authorities imposed a sweeping internet blackout that largely cut the country off from the outside world and escalated threats of harsh punishment while anti-regime protests spread. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reported that at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed, with hundreds more injured. 

At a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, President Donald Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country. "Iran’s in big trouble," Trump said. "It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully."

Trump warned that the United States would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence. "We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts."

IRAN ON THE BRINK AS PROTESTERS MOVE TO TAKE TWO CITIES, APPEAL TO TRUMP

Trump said the administration hopes such action will not be necessary. "We don’t want that to happen," he said. "There have been cases like this where President Obama totally backed down, but this is something pretty incredible that’s happening in Iran. It’s an amazing thing to watch."

Trump blamed Iran’s leadership for the unrest, saying the regime had mistreated its people.

"They’ve done a bad job. They’ve treated the people very badly, and now they’re being paid back," he said. "So let’s see what happens. We’ll watch it. We’re watching it very closely."

Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the Iran So Far Away Substack, said demonstrations were expected to intensify later Friday despite the communications blackout.

"People are going to be pouring out into the streets," Zand told Fox News Digital. She described the unrest as unprecedented in the Islamic Republic’s history.

"Absolutely, this is the first time in 47 years. February 12 will mark 47 years that we have this opportunity," she said. A senior U.S. official told Fox News there had been no change to the U.S. military posture in the Middle East in response to the unrest, adding that U.S. Central Command was closely monitoring developments, particularly around Friday prayers and the regime’s response.

Thirteen days into the protests, the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Germany issued their first joint declaration on the situation in Iran.

"We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces and strongly condemn the killing of protesters," the statement said. "The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal. We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, refrain from violence, and uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens."

TRUMP SAYS US WILL INTERVENE IF IRAN STARTS KILLING PROTESTERS: ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’

The opposition-linked National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said Friday that security forces killed a significant number of protesters overnight in several cities, particularly Tehran and Karaj. The group said repression forces opened fire on civilians in the Fardis area of Karaj, leaving at least 10 young people killed or wounded in one incident—claims that could not be independently verified.

The leader of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, told Fox News Digital, "The developments of recent months have proven a fundamental truth: although the regime ruling Iran has been severely weakened and has suffered heavy blows, it will not collapse under the weight of its own failures. Its overthrow will not come from outside Iran, nor will it be delivered by the will of foreign capitals. As I have repeatedly emphasized, change can only be achieved by the Iranian people themselves, through an organized and nationwide resistance that is present on the ground — one capable of confronting a ruthless dictatorship."

According to Reuters, Iran was effectively isolated after authorities shut down internet access in an effort to curb the demonstrations, sharply limiting the flow of information out of the country. Phone calls into Iran were failing, and at least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were canceled, according to Dubai Airport’s website. Videos verified by Reuters showed buildings and vehicles ablaze in several cities as unrest intensified.

Footage verified by Reuters from Tehran showed hundreds of demonstrators marching, with at least one woman heard shouting, "Death to Khamenei!" Other chants included slogans supporting the monarchy.

IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS

In Zahedan, where Iran’s Baluch minority predominates, rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march following Friday prayers had been met with gunfire, wounding several people, according to Reuters.

Iranian state television aired images of clashes and fires, while the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers were killed overnight, underscoring the increasingly violent nature of the confrontations.

In a televised address Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down. Reuters reported that while the unrest has not yet drawn as broad a cross-section of society as some previous protest waves, Iranian authorities appear more vulnerable due to a dire economic situation and the aftermath of last year’s war with Israel and the United States.

IRANIAN PROTESTERS RENAME TEHRAN STREET AFTER TRUMP, PLEAD 'DON'T LET THEM KILL US' AMID CRACKDOWN

The protests began late last month with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants demonstrating against accelerating inflation and the collapse of the rial, which lost about half its value against the dollar last year. Inflation topped 40% in December. The unrest soon spread to universities and provincial cities, with young men clashing with security forces.

State television broadcast overnight images of burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at underground railway stations and banks. In the Caspian Sea port city of Rasht, a state TV journalist standing amid the flames said, "This looks like a war zone – all the shops have been destroyed."

Reuters noted that Iran’s opposition abroad remains fragmented, with disputed levels of support inside the country for figures such as Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late Shah of Iran. Pahlavi urged Iranians to take to the streets in a social media post, while President Donald Trump said Thursday he would not meet Pahlavi and was "not sure that it would be appropriate" to support him," he stated in an interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Despite the unrest, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the likelihood of foreign military intervention was "very low," adding that Oman’s foreign minister would visit Tehran on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The Islamic Republic has weathered repeated waves of nationwide unrest over the decades, including major protests in 1999, 2009, 2019 and 2022. Analysts say the coming days will test whether the current uprising can sustain momentum under intensified repression — or meet a similar fate.

Reuters contributed to this article.

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is calling on President Donald Trump to intervene after the Islamic regime implemented a nationwide internet blackout amid intensifying anti-government protests. He said the president has proven himself to be a "man of peace and a man of your word."

"Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action. Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout. No Internet. No landlines," Pahlavi wrote on X.

"Ali Khamenei, fearing the end of his criminal regime at the hands of the people and, with the help of your powerful promise to support the protesters, has threatened the people on the streets with a brutal crackdown," Pahlavi added. "And he wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes."

IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER SAYS PROTESTERS 'RUINING THEIR OWN STREETS' TO PLEASE TRUMP

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently took a swipe at Trump, saying that protesters in Iran were "ruining their own streets" to appease the U.S. president, according to The Associated Press.

Palhavi added that he believed Trump's threat to intervene if the Iranian government used violence against protesters "kept the regime's thugs at bay" during Thursday night's protests. The prince called on the people of Iran to demonstrate on Thursday night and renewed his call for more protests on Friday night.

Recently, Palhavi predicted that the regime was "very close to collapsing" amid the nationwide unrest.

"Over a hundred cities and millions of people on the street chanting ‘Death to the dictator,’" Pahlavi told "Hannity" on Tuesday. "The regime is crumbling and is very close to collapsing," he added.

IRAN REGIME CUTS NATIONWIDE INTERNET ACCESS AS PROTESTS CLAIM 44 LIVES ACROSS MAJOR CITIES

He said the movement is "unprecedented" and differs from past efforts, pointing to participation from Iran’s powerful merchant class.

As of Friday, at least 36 people had been killed, including 34 protesters and two members of security and law enforcement forces, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Jan. 2 that the U.S. was "locked and loaded and ready to go" defend protesters if the regime used violence against them.

EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE SAYS REGIME ‘VERY CLOSE TO COLLAPSING’ AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST

"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump wrote.

Trump reiterated the statement during an interview with Hugh Hewitt that aired on Thursday. He said that Iran has "been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell," according to the AP. However, in the same interview, the president seemed to cast doubt on the idea that he would meet with Pahlavi.

"I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president," Trump said, according to the AP. "I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges."

The president also spoke with Fox News' Sean Hannity about the possibility of intervening in Iran. During his appearance on "Hannity," Trump said that the U.S. would hit the regime "very hard" if it mistreated protesters.

"We’re ready to do it. If they do that, we can hit them hard," Trump told "Hannity."

Video from Tehran showed business owners shutting their shops in the Grand Bazaar and facing off with security forces in riot gear. Meanwhile, video from other parts of Iran have shown large crowds with thousands taking to the streets as they decry the country's worsening economic conditions.

On Thursday, the regime plunged Iran into a nationwide internet blackout as the protests intensified. Live network data from NetBlocks showed internet traffic collapsing in the troubled nation on Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for mass protests at 8 p.m. local time.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the State Department and a representative for Pahlavi for comment.

Fox News Digital's Madison Colombo and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.

Russia said on Friday it used its new hypersonic Oreshnik missile in an attack against Ukraine, according to reports.

The Kremlin said that the strike was carried out in response to what it said was an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's residences, something Kyiv has denied, according to Reuters. 

The outlet noted that Ukraine and the U.S. have cast doubt on Russia’s claims about the alleged attempted attack on Putin’s residence on Dec. 29, the report said. Ukraine called it "an absurd lie," while President Donald Trump also doubted the veracity of the claim, saying he did not believe the strike occurred and that "something" unrelated happened nearby.

This is the second time Russia has used the intermediate-range Oreshnik, which Putin has said is impossible to intercept because of its velocity, Reuters reported.

RUSSIA ALLEGES ATTACK ON PUTIN RESIDENCE AS UKRAINE DENIES CLAIM AHEAD OF TRUMP TALKS

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike targeted critical infrastructure in Ukraine, according to Reuters, which added that Russia said the attack also used attack drones and high-precision long-range land and sea-based weapons.

While Moscow did not say where the missile hit, Russian media and military bloggers said it targeted an underground natural gas storage facility in Ukraine's western Leviv region, CBS News reported. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said the attack hit critical infrastructure but did not give details, the outlet added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the attack on social media, saying that the aftermath was "still being dealt with."

"Twenty residential buildings alone were damaged. Recovery operations after the strikes also continue in the Lviv region and other regions of our country. Unfortunately, as of now, it is known that four people have been killed in the capital alone. Among them is an ambulance crew member. My condolences to their families and loved ones," Zelenskyy wrote.

PUTIN RESIDENCE ATTACK VIDEO SLAMMED AS US OFFICIALS SAY UKRAINE DID NOT TARGET LEADER

The Ukrainian leader said the attack involved 242 drones, 13 ballistic missiles, one Oreshnik missile and 22 cruise missiles. Zelenskyy added that the ballistic missiles were aimed at energy facilities and civilian infrastructure as the people of Ukraine faced "a significant cold spell." He said the attack was "aimed precisely against the normal life of ordinary people." However, he assured that Ukraine was working to restore heating and electricity.

Zelenskyy claimed that in addition to the civilian infrastructure, a building of the Embassy of Qatar was damaged in the attack.

"A clear reaction from the world is needed. Above all from the United States, whose signals Russia truly pays attention to. Russia must receive signals that it is its obligation to focus on diplomacy, and must feel consequences every time it again focuses on killings and the destruction of infrastructure," Zelenskyy added.

A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News Digital that the U.S. remains committed to ending the war through diplomatic means, emphasizing that it is the only path toward a durable peace. The spokesperson underscored Trump's desire to end the war that is approaching its fourth year.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker on Friday in a pre-dawn action, the U.S. Southern Command announced.

"In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident," the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X. 

"Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale," the statement added. "The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said "the world's criminals are on notice" after the latest operation.

"Early this morning, the [U.S. Coast Guard] executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another "ghost fleet" tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed Venezuela attempting to evade U.S. forces," Noem wrote on X.

"The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality. 
The Coast Guard will seize sanctioned oil tankers, enforce U.S. and international law, and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity including narco-terrorism," Noem added. She also praised the U.S. Coast GUard for its "relentless execution of this mission."

This is the fifth such seizure in recent weeks and comes less than one week after the U.S. carried out a daring operation in Venezuela in which dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cili Flores, were arrested.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more details.

Fox News' James Levinson contributed to this report.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled that security forces would clamp down on protesters after overnight marches through the streets as the country continues to see demonstrations.

Overnight, Iran was plunged into a nationwide internet blackout as anti-regime protests intensified. The blackout severely restricted communications across the country as demonstrations enter their second week and the death toll reportedly reaches 44. Live network data from NetBlocks showed internet traffic collapsing in the troubled nation on Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for mass protests at 8 p.m. local time.

Khamenei's warning about security forces came just days after President Donald Trump vowed the U.S. would intervene if peaceful Iranian protesters were met with violence at the hands of the regime.

"If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 2.

IRAN PROTESTERS EMBOLDENED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S PERSIAN MESSAGING AFTER OBAMA-BIDEN INACTION, ACTIVISTS SAY

Trump reiterated the statement during an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday and said that if the regime forces were to kill protesters, "they will be hit very hard." The remark was posted on the State Department's Farsi feed.

The Iranian leader dismissed Trump's statements, saying that the U.S. president's hands were "stained with the blood of Iranians" as supporters shouted "Death to America!" in footage aired on Iranian state TV, according to The Associated Press.

IRAN REGIME CUTS NATIONWIDE INTERNET ACCESS AS PROTESTS CLAIM 44 LIVES ACROSS MAJOR CITIES

Khamenei said that Iranian protesters were "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy," referring to Trump.

Short videos purportedly showing protests against the regime still circulated before the blackout cut the nation from the internet and international calls, according to the AP. The outlet noted that the videos appeared to show protesters chanting against the Iranian regime around bonfires as debris littered the streets in Tehran and other areas in the country. Iranian state media claimed "terrorist agents" from the U.S. and Israel set the fires and sparked the violence, the AP reported.

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, called for the protests on Thursday night. Pahlavi said on X that he was proud of all those who demonstrated against the regime on Thursday night.

"I am proud of each and every one of you who took over the streets across Iran on Thursday night... You saw how the massive crowds forced the repressive forces to retreat," Pahlavi said. "Those of you who were hesitant, join your fellow compatriots on Friday night."

Pahlavi encouraged protests on Friday to be even larger than the ones that took place the night before, saying it would further weaken the Islamic Republic's regime. He also expressed his faith that the people in the streets would not give up in the face of internet blackouts, assuring the protesters that the victory belonged to them.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Emma Bussey contributed to this report.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it used a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile Friday in a deadly strike on Ukraine.

Four people were killed and at least 22 were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Russia said the attack was retaliation for what Moscow claimed was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Both Ukraine and President Donald Trump have disputed that claim.

The attack occurred hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted the nation that Russia intended to launch a large-scale offensive.

ZELENSKYY DENIES RUSSIAN CLAIM THAT UKRAINE ATTACKED PUTIN RESIDENCE

Zelenskyy said that Russia was aiming to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital, which made roads and streets icy.

The missile traveled at a speed of more than 8,000 miles per hour, according to the Western Command of Ukraine's Air Force.

Several districts in Kyiv were hit in the attack and an emergency medical aid worker was among those killed, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

RUSSIA ALLEGES ATTACK ON PUTIN RESIDENCE AS UKRAINE DENIES CLAIM AHEAD OF TRUMP TALKS

Ukraine's security service said that five rescue workers suffered injuries while responding to the site of ongoing attacks.

A drone crashed onto the roof of a multistory building in the Desnyanskyi district and the first two floors of a residential building were also damaged as a result of the attack.

Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The latest attack also involved other ground-and-sea-launched missiles targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure the western city of Lviv, according to its mayor, Andriy Sadoviy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Venezuela is teetering on the edge after the U.S. capture and arrest of former President Nicolás Maduro, as armed militias, guerrilla groups and criminal networks threaten a path toward stability, according to reports.

As interim President Delcy Rodríguez assumes control, backed by President Trump’s administration, analysts have warned that the country is completely saturated with heavily armed groups capable of derailing any progress toward stability.

"All of the armed groups have the power to sabotage any type of transition just by the conditions of instability that they can create," Andrei Serbin Pont, a military analyst and head of the Buenos Aires-based think tank Cries, told The Financial Times.

"There are parastate armed groups across the entirety of Venezuela’s territory," he said.

MADURO ARREST SENDS 'CLEAR MESSAGE' TO DRUG CARTELS, ALLIES AND US RIVALS, RETIRED ADMIRAL SAYS

Experts say Rodríguez must keep the regime’s two most powerful hardliners onside: Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.

"The focus is now on Diosdado Cabello," Venezuelan military strategist José García told Reuters, "because he is the most ideological, violent and unpredictable element of the Venezuelan regime."

"Delcy has to walk a tightrope," said Phil Gunson, a Crisis Group analyst in Caracas.

"They are not in a position to deliver any kind of deal with Trump unless they can get the approval of the people with the guns, who are basically Padrino and Cabello."

Since Maduro’s removal, government-aligned militias known as "colectivos" have been deployed across Caracas and other cities to enforce order and suppress dissent.

"The future is uncertain, the colectivos have weapons, the Colombian guerrilla is already here in Venezuela, so we don’t know what’s going to happen, time will tell," Oswaldo, a 69-year-old shop owner, told The Telegraph.

WAS TRUMP’S MADURO OPERATION ILLEGAL? WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW HAS TO SAY

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, armed motorcyclists and masked enforcers have erected checkpoints in the capital, searching civilians’ phones and vehicles for signs of opposition to the U.S. raid.

"That environment of instability plays into the hands of armed actors," Serbin Pont added.

Outside the capital, guerrilla groups and organized crime syndicates are exploiting the power vacuum along Venezuela’s borders and in its resource-rich interior.

Guerrillas now operate along Venezuela’s 2,219-kilometer border with Colombia and control illegal mining near the Orinoco oil belt.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian Marxist guerrilla group with thousands of fighters and designated a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, has operated in Venezuela as a paramilitary force.

FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO'S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY

Elizabeth Dickson, Crisis Group’s deputy director for Latin America, said the ELN "in Venezuela … has essentially operated as a paramilitary force, aligned with the interests of the Maduro government up until now."

Carlos Arturo Velandia, a former ELN commander, also told the Financial Times that if Venezuela’s power bloc fractures, the group would side with the most radical wing of Chavismo.

Colectivos also function as armed enforcers of political loyalty.

"We are the ones being called on to defend this revolutionary process radically, without hesitation — us colectivos are the fundamental tool to continue this fight," said Luis Cortéz, commander of the Colectivo Catedral Combativa.

"We are always, and always will be, fighting and in the streets."

Other armed actors include the Segunda Marquetalia, a splinter group of Colombia’s former FARC rebels. Both guerrilla groups work alongside local crime syndicates known as "sistemas," which have ties to politicians.

The Tren de Aragua cartel, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., has also expanded across Venezuela and into Colombia, Chile and the U.S.

As reported by Fox News Digital, an unsealed indictment alleges Maduro "participates in, perpetuates, and protects a culture of corruption" involving drug trafficking with groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, the ELN, FARC factions and Tren de Aragua, with most of the problematic groups named.

Iran has been plunged into a nationwide internet blackout as anti-regime protests intensify, severely restricting communication across the country as demonstrations enter their second week and the death toll reaches 44, according to reports.

Live network data from NetBlocks showed internet traffic collapsing in the troubled nation on Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for mass protests at 8 p.m. local time.

Before news of the latest killings came in, President Donald Trump, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, once again warned the regime if they start killing people that "they will be hit very hard." 

Asked by Hewitt if he had a message for the Iranian people, Trump said: You should feel strongly about freedom. There’s nothing like freedom. You’re brave people."

PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS IRAN AS REGIME THREATENS US FORCES AS 'LEGITIMATE TARGETS' AFTER TRUMP WARNING

The State Department's Persian feed on X also restated his warning from his interview with Hugh Hewitt about the regime in Farsi. 

Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital that the internet shutdown began earlier in the day.

"Around 1 p.m. local time, the internet traffic dropped," he said, adding that there were widespread reports "that the regime had cut off the internet."

NetBlocks said the outage followed "a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country," while The Associated Press reported that telephone lines were also cut in parts of Iran.

Safavi said the blackout coincided with violent confrontations in several regions.

"The internet was cut off in Lordegan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces as battles erupted," he said.

He also pointed to unrest in Isfahan, Iran’s third-largest city with around 2.3 million residents, saying, "State radio and the TV station were set on fire by rebellious youth."

As the communications blackout deepened, the confirmed death toll from the unrest rose sharply.

The NCRI reported on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, that at least 44 protesters had been killed by Iranian security forces since the uprising began.

IRAN’S KHAMENEI LASHES OUT AT PROTESTERS AS NATIONWIDE ANTI-REGIME UNREST GROWS

The group announced the names of 13 additional victims that day, describing them as "martyrs" of the nationwide uprising.

Seven of those newly identified were from Lordegan, including a woman and two teenagers. 

According to the NCRI, the victims were killed by the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces using live ammunition.

The protests were sparked in December by the collapse of Iran’s currency and soaring inflation, but they have since evolved into a broader movement demanding the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

IRAN ON THE BRINK AS PROTESTERS MOVE TO TAKE TWO CITIES, APPEAL TO TRUMP

The unrest entered its 12th day with general strikes spreading across major commercial centers and street clashes intensifying, particularly in western Iran.

Safavi described the scale of the demonstrations as unprecedented.

"Millions of Iranians from north to south and east to west have been out in the streets until nighttime," he said. 

"Over the past 12 days, more young people have laid down their lives to free Iran."

In a statement shared on X, Reza Pahlavi wrote, "Millions of Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication. It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals."

IRAN CRACKDOWN RATTLES MIDDLE EAST AS ANALYSTS WEIGH US OPTIONS SHORT OF MILITARY INTERVENTION

In Lordegan, security forces had reportedly killed eight protesters in a single day, while clashes also left a regime colonel and two Basij members dead.

Elsewhere, protesters torched government buildings in cities, including Lumar in Ilam province. Safavi said symbols of the state have been targeted nationwide.

"Statues have been destroyed and set on fire,"  Safavi said, noting that "the day before, buses were set alight in Mashhad and another torched."

Footage circulating online and cited by Reuters showed protesters in Mashhad ripping an Iranian flag in half amid chants against the leadership.

In Tehran, Safavi said demonstrators overturned a police car in Kaj Square, an affluent area near the Alborz Mountains, as crowds shouted, "Death to the oppressor!"

The U.K. has signaled over a billion dollars worth of Venezuelan gold could stay held in vaults at the Bank of England, despite the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and the appointment of interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, according to reports.

Addressing Parliament on Jan. 5, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper suggested that because Britain does not recognize the current administration, the bullion is unlikely to be released.

"It is important that we have the pressure in place to have a transition to a democracy which is also about the will of the Venezuelan people," Cooper said.

"Obviously, there are independent decisions for the Bank of England to take, but our principles are about maintaining and pursuing stability and a transition to democracy, and that is what is guiding our approach," she said in her statement.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES 'ALARMING' INTERNAL CRACKDOWN

The gold, which is part of Venezuela’s central bank reserves, has been frozen since 2020 amid competing claims over who has legal authority to access it.

"So the gold stays where it is," Rhona O’Connell, head of market analysis for EMEA and Asia at StoneX, told Fox News Digital.

"This has implications for the gold that is frozen in the Bank of England, and which Maduro has been trying to get released."

O’Connell claimed Venezuela had sold large quantities of gold between 2012 and 2016 as the country’s economic crisis deepened.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP'S PUSH TO PUT US OIL FIRMS BACK IN VENEZUELA

"The last major tranche appears to have been 85 metric tons in the first half of 2016, with further small sales thereafter," she said, adding that Venezuela last officially reported reserves to the International Monetary Fund in mid-2018.

"Figures picked up by the World Gold Council suggest net sales of 179t since 2022," O’Connell said.

Maduro launched legal action against the Bank of England in 2020, prompting rival claims over who could represent Banco Central de Venezuela which owns the gold, but has been under U.S. sanctions since April 2019.

The UK High Court initially sided with the Bank of England, but the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, with the UK Supreme Court ultimately ruling in favor of recognizing Juan Guaidó as president.

The Supreme Court documents have the value in 2020 at around $1.95bn. Given the price of gold has has increased since then, it could now likely be worth over $3 billion.

MADURO'S SON GIVES 'UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT' TO NEWLY SWORN IN INTERIM VENEZUELA PRESIDENT

Still, the gold has been frozen under London’s jurisdiction, consistent with the UK government’s recognition policy, per reports.

"This follows the One Voice doctrine, a UK ruling that means when a UK Government refuses to recognize another Head of State, the courts must do likewise," O’Connell said,

Swiss authorities, meanwhile, have also frozen assets linked to Maduro and dozens of associates following his arrest by U.S. forces, though they have not disclosed the total value of those assets, according to Reuters.

Between those years, Venezuela exported about 113 metric tonnes of gold worth roughly $5.2 billion to Switzerland, according to Swiss customs data, Reuters reported.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Bank of England and the U.K. Foreign Office for comment.

European allies are working together on a plan in case the Trump administration acts on acquiring Greenland, a report said Wednesday. 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio that the subject will be raised at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland. 

"We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners," Barrot said, according to Reuters.

A German government source also told Reuters that Germany is "closely working together with other European countries and Denmark on the next steps regarding Greenland."

WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘RANGE OF OPTIONS,’ INCLUDING US MILITARY, ON TABLE AS TRUMP RENEWS PUSH TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND

The White House said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump views acquiring Greenland as a national security priority and that the use of the U.S. military remains an option as his administration weighs how to pursue control of the Arctic territory.

"President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News.  

"The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal," she added. 

When asked Wednesday for a response to the Reuters report, the White House referred Fox News Digital to Leavitt's remarks.

TRUMP GREENLAND TAKEOVER WOULD END NATO, DENMARK ASSERTS

Trump told reporters on Air Force One over the weekend that the U.S. needs Greenland, a Danish territory, for "national security." 

European and Nordic leaders pushed back against the comments, with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Denmark’s Ambassador to the United States Jesper Møller Sørensen underscoring their support for Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland and stressing that its future must be determined by Greenland and Denmark alone.

A senior European official told Reuters on Wednesday that Denmark must lead any effort to coordinate a response and "the Danes have yet to communicate to their European allies what kind of concrete support they wish to receive." 

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. 

Russia on Thursday warned that any Western military forces deployed to Ukraine under a post-war security arrangement would be considered "legitimate combat targets," sharply criticizing a newly signed Paris declaration outlining security guarantees for Kyiv.

In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the declaration, backed by Ukraine, the United States and several European countries, was not aimed at peace but at further militarizing Ukraine and escalating the conflict.

She specifically objected to provisions calling for a multinational force and continued military support for Ukraine's armed forces, warning that any foreign troops, military infrastructure or facilities on Ukrainian territory would be viewed by Moscow as direct foreign intervention.

UKRAINE, US NEAR 20-POINT PEACE DEAL AS PUTIN SPURNS ZELENSKYY CHRISTMAS CEASEFIRE OFFER

"All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate combat targets of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," Zakharova said.

"These warnings have been voiced more than once at the highest level and remain relevant."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday the U.K. and France signed a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, including establishing military hubs and facilities to store weapons and equipment after a ceasefire.

"It paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil – securing Ukraine’s skies and seas – and regenerating Ukraine’s armed forces for the future," Starmer told reporters at a press conference after the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris.

RUSSIA ALLEGES ATTACK ON PUTIN RESIDENCE AS UKRAINE DENIES CLAIM AHEAD OF TRUMP TALKS

"We also have agreed [on] significant further steps. First, that we will participate in U.S.-led monitoring and verification of any ceasefire. Second, we will support the long-term provision of armaments for Ukraine’s defence. And third, we will work towards binding commitments to support Ukraine in the case of a future armed attack by Russia," he added.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on X that negotiators made significant progress on a bilateral security guarantee framework and a prosperity plan for Ukraine, calling durable security guarantees essential to a lasting peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said the document on security guarantees for Ukraine is essentially "ready for finalization at the highest level with the President of the United States."

"Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were also addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalizing this document," he added. "We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war."

A Venezuelan official is claiming that 100 people were killed in the U.S. operation to capture President Nicolás Maduro. 

Venezuela's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, announced the figure late Wednesday, according to Reuters, which added that Venezuela’s army posted a list of 23 names of its dead. 

Cuba's official mouthpiece for its ruling Communist Party also confirmed Tuesday that 32 members of its armed forces were killed during the U.S. military operation over the weekend. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for comment.

RETIRED DELTA FORCE VET REVEALS BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN MADURO CAPTURE MISSION IN VENEZUELA

Cabello added that Maduro suffered a leg injury during the capture, while Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, sustained a head injury, Reuters reported. 

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez has declared a week of mourning for the military members who died, it added. 

An administration official told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that seven U.S. service members were injured in the operation.

VENEZUELAN OIL SHIPMENTS SURGE TO US PORTS WITH HEAVY CRUDE AFTER MADURO CAPTURE

Five of those service members have already returned to duty, while two are still recovering. 

"They are receiving excellent medical care and are well on their way to recovery," the official said. "The fact that this extremely complex and grueling mission was successfully executed with so few injuries is a testament to the expertise of our joint warriors." 

On Saturday, U.S. service members landed in Caracas, Venezuela, during a secretive mission known as Operation Absolute Resolve to capture Maduro and his wife. The mission was led by the Army's elite special operations unit Delta Force. 

The 32 military and police officers that Cuba says were killed were part of a mission carried out at the request of Venezuela’s government, according to a Cuban government statement. On Tuesday, Cuba released their names, ranks and ages.

"Victims of a new criminal act of aggression and state terrorism perpetrated against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the United States, 32 Cubans lost their lives in combat actions and after fierce resistance," read a statement published by Granma, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.   

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

As anti-regime protests spread across Iran for a 12th straight day, the Islamic Republic has reportedly turned to foreign militias for support, with two independent sources confirming that roughly 850 Hezbollah, Iraqi militia and Quds Force-linked fighters crossed into Iran to bolster the regime’s security forces.

The reported movement marks a significant escalation in the regime’s response, signaling a willingness to rely on allied foreign militias with combat experience to help suppress domestic dissent.

"This is nothing new for the regime. It is the logical extension of a playbook the ruling clerics have used since 1979 to outsource repression to ideologically loyal militias and then integrate them into the state’s coercive infrastructure," Iran expert Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital. 

IRAN’S KHAMENEI LASHES OUT AT PROTESTERS AS NATIONWIDE ANTI-REGIME UNREST GROWS

"From the Basij and Revolutionary Guard, which were built to crush internal dissent under the banner of defending the revolution, to today’s deployment of foreign proxies like Hezbollah and Iraqi Popular Mobilization units, the regime is signaling once again that it treats its own population the way it has long treated regional battlefields. The message is clear: The mullahs don’t care about the Iranian people. They are willing to go to any extent to blur the line between domestic policing and transnational militancy to preserve their grip on power."

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the reported use of foreign proxy forces could reflect growing concerns within the regime about internal cohesion among Iran’s own security services.

"Since protests dating back to 2009, there were always allegations of Arabic being heard on the street," Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. "As the contest between the state and the street continues to heat up, all eyes will be on Iran’s security forces to see if they defect or disobey orders to crack down. The problem is, so is the regime. And to that end, the Islamic Republic may have devised a failsafe for itself against popular anger. Foreign proxies. Whether Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, or the Afghan Fatemiyoun, their function would be the same: to fire on Iranians when other Iranians won’t."

Earlier reporting from Iran International also indicated that Iraqi Shiite militia reinforcements were deployed to Iran in early January to assist in suppressing protests. Estimates placed the number of fighters at roughly 800, with militants reportedly crossing the border under the pretense of religious pilgrimages before gathering at a base in Ahvaz and being dispatched to various regions.

Ghulam Isaczai, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, replied to a Fox News Digital question about the Iraqi militias, saying he had no knowledge of the matter and that it was "new to him."

Iran’s nationwide uprising entered its 12th day on Thursday as protests and violent clashes were reported in more than 200 cities across 26 provinces, underscoring the breadth of unrest driven by economic collapse and long-standing political grievances.

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Videos circulating Thursday showed demonstrators tearing the Iranian flag in northern Iran as protests fueled by soaring inflation, currency devaluation and deep discontent with the country’s theocratic leadership continued to spread.

Rights groups and independent monitoring organizations say at least 38 people have been killed and more than 2,200 arrested since demonstrations began in late December. 

While protests initially centered on Tehran, confrontations have expanded into western provinces, including Kermanshah, Lorestan, Ilam and Kurdish regions. Iranian authorities have responded by deploying numerous security forces, imposing internet blackouts and enforcing curfews in some areas in an effort to suppress the unrest.

The unrest comes as Iran’s economy continues to deteriorate. Tehran has warned suppliers against hoarding and price gouging as the rial collapses against the dollar, exacerbating public frustration and fueling daily demonstrations.

International concern is mounting as analysts warn that sustained nationwide unrest combined with the reported deployment of foreign militia forces could redefine Iran’s internal instability and carry broader regional security implications, particularly as U.S. warnings and sanctions pressure intensify.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nearly 800,000 homes in Ukraine were left without electricity and heating Thursday morning after a Russian overnight attack on energy infrastructure, the country’s acting energy minister said, as power crews raced to restore service.

Artem Nekrasov said in comments published on the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’s official Telegram channel that the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions were almost completely without power following the Russian strike.

"Repair work is ongoing to return light and heat to consumers as soon as possible," Nekrasov said.

RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKES TANKER IN UKRAINE’S ODESA AFTER ZELENSKYY CLOSES US GAS DEAL

Power has since been restored in the Zaporizhzhia region, while hundreds of thousands of homes in Dnipro remain without electricity and heat.

Ukrainian officials urged residents to limit the use of high-consumption electrical appliances to prevent renewed outages as repairs continue.

Nekrasov said adverse weather conditions also left parts of several other regions without power, including Chernihiv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia.

UK, FRANCE STRIKE NEW UKRAINE SECURITY PACT AS US TAKES LEAD IN CEASEFIRE ENFORCEMENT

The power outages are unfolding amid freezing temperatures in Kyiv, where forecasts show overnight lows under 20 degrees.

"There is absolutely no military rationale in such strikes on the energy sector and infrastructure that leave people without electricity and heating in wintertime," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday on X.

"This is Russia’s war specifically against our people, against life in Ukraine – an attempt to break Ukraine."

The strikes come just days after Zelenskyy met in Paris with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss continued diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s nearly four-year war.

Zelenskyy said the talks focused on security guarantees, monitoring a potential ceasefire, and rebuilding Ukraine as part of a broader framework for peace.

FIRST ON FOX: The spate of kidnappings of Christians in north-central Nigeria by mostly Muslim Fulani militants is a deliberate tactic to target, bankrupt and destroy Christian communities, according to multiple sources who spoke to Fox News Digital.

"Kidnapping for ransom is a strategic aim of the Fulani militants," Steven Kerfas, lead researcher for the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), told Fox News Digital. He added, "They do it to fund their terrorism, but also to bankrupt the Christian community."

In Nigeria’s Middle Belt states, "these mass abductions are targeted," Kerfas said. "You have cases where 100 Christians will be marched into the forest and kept there for months. You know, they are forced to cough out ransoms they don't have, so they have to sell everything — [including] their farmland."

ALL 24 KIDNAPPED NIGERIAN SCHOOLGIRLS RESCUED AFTER ARMED ATTACK IN KEBBI, PRESIDENT SAYS

He continued, "They survive through this subsistence agriculture. Now you force them to sell the farmland that they are surviving on to pay ransom. So by the time you release them, what do they go back to? Nothing."

Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK — a global Christian charity supporting Christians persecuted for their faith, told Fox News Digital that, "The kidnapping for ransom epidemic in north-central Nigeria doesn’t just affect Christians, but it’s clear that they are disproportionately singled out."

In Nigeria, Open Doors states that 4,407 Christians were abducted in the north-central region between 2020 and 2025. When adjusted for relative population size, a Christian was 2.4 times more likely than a Muslim to be abducted, the organization claims.

Blyth said, "Tactics by kidnappers include raids on churches and schools… priests and pastors are singled out because they represent high-value targets. Families and friends are often forced to sell land, livestock and property to meet the kidnappers’ demands, and it can bankrupt families for generations," she said.

Blythe warned of the "horrific dilemma" Christians face: "Pay ransoms in the hope of saving lives, (knowing) that payment allows the attacks to continue, or refuse and risk their loved ones being slaughtered —sometimes families and communities pay the ransom, but it doesn’t lead to the kidnapped person being released alive."

International Christian Concern reported that a pastor who had been kidnapped in August of last year in north-central Nigeria, the Rev. James Audu Issa, was held for several weeks, and then killed – even though a ransom had been paid.

"In the (Nigerian) Middle Belt, they kidnap Christians, they kidnap the clergy, they abduct women. They hardly kidnap any Muslims," Nigerian lawyer Jabez Musa told Fox News Digital. Musa is a pseudonym, used to protect the lawyer’s identity.

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He said, "The reason for these ransom demands is to economically weaken Christians. That is the way Christians look at it."

The lawyer added, in April this past year one church, the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), said they had to pay 300 million naira ($205,000) in ransom to kidnappers, for about 50 of their members who were kidnapped in Kaduna State and Plateau State. Payments such as these place an unbearable financial strain on the church and affected families."

Kerfas added, "The Fulani militants are on a jihad, and, of course, they need to fund that jihad. So the Christians being abducted have to cough out huge sums as ransoms."

Christian communities are in the majority in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. But the claimed goal of the Fulani militants of wiping out the Christian communities through kidnapping makes their future desperate and bleak.

Kerfas warned, "If you don't pay ransom, you get killed. And sometimes, even after paying the ransom, you still get killed."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Nigerian government but did not receive a response.

The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted "worry" among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.

U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.

And according to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.

Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.

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"We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals," Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital. 

"That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers," she added.

"The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC," Wiese Bockmann clarified.

She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been "worried" about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including "armed guards."

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"Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards," Wiese Bockmann said. "But it is highly irregular."

"Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by houthis or pirates," she added.

Following the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.

"This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil," Leavitt said.

"The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order, and that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution."

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was "closely following" the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

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Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.

"There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet," she said. "What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months."

European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are "facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark," she explained.

"The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May, and the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October," Wiese Bockmann added.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said this week that Jewish communities are safer in Budapest than anywhere else in Europe, as data from the Anti-Defamation League point to a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across the continent.

"Jewish communities are safer in Budapest than anywhere else in Europe. Zero tolerance for antisemitism, no hate crimes, no violent migrants," Orbán wrote in a post on X. "This is how a modern European capital ought to be."

Orbán’s claim was publicly backed by Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who wrote on X that "Budapest is one of the safest and most welcoming European capitals for its Jewish community and for Israeli citizens alike."

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Chikli cited what he described as a recent decision by the Swiss city of Basel not to host a Zionist Youth Congress of approximately 200 Jewish youths, adding that Hungary agreed to host the event and that a senior Hungarian minister delivered a speech.

Chikli said Hungary’s approach stems from "a responsible immigration policy that recognizes the danger posed by radical Islam" and "an uncompromising government policy against antisemitism."

Orbán’s remarks come amid an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report that stated antisemitism in Europe is escalating at an alarming pace. In a 2024–2025 analysis titled Take Action: Antisemitism Is Escalating in Europe, the ADL reported a surge in antisemitic harassment, vandalism, threats and physical attacks across multiple European countries, particularly following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the war in Gaza.

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According to the ADL, incidents rose sharply in countries including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Jewish communities reported increased security threats, while many Jews said they felt unsafe wearing visible religious symbols in public. The ADL warned that Jewish institutions across Europe now require heightened security and that antisemitism is becoming increasingly normalized in public discourse.

Hungary is home to the largest Jewish community in Central Europe, with estimates ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 Jews, most of them living in Budapest.

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Jewish leaders in Hungary have offered mixed assessments over the years. Some have praised the government for investing in synagogue restoration, Holocaust memorials and Jewish cultural life, as well as for maintaining close diplomatic ties with Israel. Others have expressed concern about nationalist rhetoric and disputes over historical memory, particularly regarding Hungary’s role in the Holocaust.

Before World War II, Hungary had one of Europe’s largest Jewish populations, estimated at about 825,000 people. Following the German occupation in March 1944, Hungarian and Nazi authorities deported approximately 430,000–440,000 Jews to Auschwitz in a matter of weeks, most of whom were murdered on arrival. Overall, historians estimate that about 564,000 Hungarian Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Orbán’s government has repeatedly rejected accusations of antisemitism at home, pointing to its close relationship with Israel and its public opposition to antisemitic violence. Hungarian officials frequently contrast Budapest with major Western European cities where Jewish institutions now require heavy police protection and where protests linked to the Gaza war have at times turned violent.

According to the ADL, antisemitic narratives have now spread across Europe's political spectrum and online platforms, contributing to a climate of fear even in countries once considered safe for Jewish life.