Author: adler

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is Iran’s most powerful military and security organization, separate from the regular armed forces. It reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and functions as the regime’s primary ideological enforcer and protector. Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Protests in Iran, which have been ongoing for at least five days, turned deadly as unrest spread to at least 17 of the country’s 31 provinces on December 31. The Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War recorded 31 separate demonstrations that day, up from 24 the previous day. The unrest reached the holy city of Qom, a core stronghold of the Islamic Republic, marking a significant symbolic breach.
The demonstrations erupted after Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to record lows, sharply increasing inflation and living costs. What began with protests by shopkeepers at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar quickly spread to cities including Isfahan, Yazd, Zanjan, Kuhdasht, and Fasa.
As the unrest expanded, Iranian security forces escalated their response. Live ammunition was used to disperse protesters in Fasa and Kuhdasht, particularly in smaller and rural areas where the regime has historically struggled to maintain control, while water cannons were deployed against demonstrators in Hamedan and Arak despite Iran’s ongoing water crisis.
The violence turned deadly in several locations. In western Lorestan, state media reported that a 21-year-old member of the Basij paramilitary force was killed and 13 others wounded during clashes. At least one protester, 37-year-old Dariush Ansari Bakhtiarvand, was shot dead by security forces in Fooladshahr, Isfahan Province, with reports of additional fatalities in Lordegan. In southern Fars Province, security forces opened fire as protesters attempted to storm a government building, injuring several officers and leading to multiple arrests.
President Masoud Pezeshkian called for national unity and blamed foreign pressure for the unrest, framing the protests as economically driven by inflation and rising living costs and accusing “hostile elements” of exploiting public anger. At the same time, protest slogans reflected a clear shift from economic grievances to open rejection of clerical rule.
He described the situation as a “full-scale war” waged through economic pressure and urged solidarity. Government officials promised dialogue and acknowledged the right to peaceful assembly, even as Iran’s top prosecutor warned of a decisive response if the protests turned violent or threatened public order.
Demonstrators chanted “Death to the dictator,” referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life for Iran,” criticizing the regime’s foreign policy priorities. Calls for resistance echoed across cities, with chants such as “Don’t be afraid, we are all together,” “Iranians, cry out, shout for your rights,” and “This is the year of blood, Seyed Ali will be overthrown,” directly invoking the name of Iran’s Ayatollah.
Pro-monarchy slogans featured prominently in protests across Iran, particularly in Qom. Protesters chanted “Long live the Shah” and voiced support for exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, with demonstrators in cities such as Dehloran and Baghmalek shouting “This is the national slogan: Reza Pahlavi” and “Javid Shah.” Some invoked Persian mythology, chanting “The Shah is coming home, Zahhak is overthrown.”
Reza Pahlavi is the son of the last Shah and heir to the defunct Peacock Throne. He lives in exile in the United States and has become increasingly vocal about supporting Iran’s opposition movements. Some Iranians, particularly monarchists, view him as a potential alternative to the current regime, though this represents only one faction within Iran’s diverse opposition.
Zahhak is a tyrant from Persian mythology in the Shahnameh, remembered as an illegitimate ruler who oppressed the people and fed on the lives of the young. By invoking Zahhak, protesters frame Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic as unlawful rulers destined to be overthrown. The imagery draws on Iranian nationalism and pre-Islamic identity as a direct challenge to the regime’s ideological foundations.
Iranian opposition is fragmented across monarchists, secularists, leftists, and reformists with different visions for Iran’s future.
Human rights groups reported dozens of arrests across multiple provinces, including the transfer of six women detained in Tehran protests to Evin prison. The Intelligence Ministry also claimed to have detained individuals allegedly linked to Reza Pahlavi.
The regime moved to preempt further unrest at universities by ordering several institutions to shift to remote learning, officially citing cold weather. Analysts assess the move as an effort to disrupt student-led mobilization, given the central role students played in the Mahsa Amini protests of 2022–2023. Authorities simultaneously released a small number of detained students and dismissed some campus security officials, likely in an attempt to defuse tensions.
Amid the expanding unrest, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi as deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Vahidi, previously sanctioned by the U.S. and EU for his role in suppressing protests, is trusted to manage domestic unrest. The appointment signals regime concern over internal security and reflects ongoing challenges in rebuilding Iran’s military leadership after the loss of senior commanders.
The unrest comes against a backdrop of long-running sanctions, renewed UN penalties, currency collapse, energy and water shortages, and memories of past crackdowns. Iran last saw nationwide protests in 2022 and 2023 following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly not fully following the country’s strict Islamic laws regarding headscarves. Those protests became the largest outbreak of unrest in Iran in years, with demonstrators across the country demanding an end to clerical rule. Hundreds of people were killed during the crackdown, including dozens of security force members.
More than 20,000 people were arrested, and several were executed in connection with the protests. The current demonstrations have quickly become the largest since the Mahsa Amini movement, with analysts noting deep public skepticism about the government’s ability to fix the economy and warning that protests rooted in economic grievances could evolve into broader political demands.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi said she hopes 2026 will mark the end of the “Islamic Republic” label, citing executions, repression, and worsening conditions in 2025, while expressing optimism that the current protests reflect resilience and a push for lasting change. Israeli minister Gila Gamliel urged global support for Iranian demonstrators.
The post Iran Regime Kills Protesters as Unrest and Calls for Regime Change Spread Nationwide appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Photo courtesy of the United States Department of State.
 
On December 31, gunmen carried out two coordinated attacks in Nigeria, one targeting Christians gathered for a New Year’s Eve service and another striking a police station. These incidents followed closely on December 29, when Nigerian troops arrested suspected suicide bomber Abubakar Mustapha at the Banki Central Mosque after an intelligence-led operation by the 152 Task Force Battalion.
Mustapha was found in possession of primed IED components, indicating imminent plans to attack Banki and nearby communities including Kumshe, Darajamal, and Kirawa. Investigators linked him to cross-border terrorist activity. In a related operation along the Cameroon-Nigeria border, troops intercepted a vehicle transporting 12 bags of urea fertilizer commonly used for explosives and arrested the dealer.
According to Director of Defence Media Operations Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, Nigerian security forces killed at least 20 senior terrorist commanders in 2025. Authorities arrested 4,375 suspects, secured the surrender of 1,616 fighters and family members, and rescued 2,336 kidnapped victims nationwide.
In the northeast alone, security forces arrested more than 1,300 suspects and rescued nearly 500 hostages while destroying terrorist camps and recovering weapons, vehicles, equipment, and cash. In the northwest, operations resulted in 669 arrests and the rescue of 966 kidnapped victims, alongside efforts to restore farming and commerce.
Onoja also confirmed joint U.S.-Nigeria airstrikes in Sokoto State targeting Islamic State-linked enclaves used by foreign fighters entering Nigeria from the Sahel. The U.S. strike operation occurred between December 25 and 26, 2025, in the Bauni forest area of Tangaza district. AFRICOM reported the use of MQ-9 Reaper drones employing more than 16 GPS-guided precision munitions, as well as over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from USS Paul Ignatius in the Gulf of Guinea. Multiple ISIS militants were killed, though exact numbers were not disclosed.
These December strikes mark a significant escalation from previous U.S.-Nigeria security cooperation. Prior to 2025, U.S. involvement focused on training, intelligence sharing, and equipment transfers rather than direct combat. Assistance included counterterrorism training through the State Department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance program and the Department of Defense’s Section 333 authority, along with intelligence support via U.S. Africa Command. U.S. ISR operations relied heavily on unarmed surveillance drones operating from Niger’s Agadez air base until the 2023 coup disrupted Sahelian operations. Equipment transfers included armored vehicles and communications gear, though military sales were constrained by human rights concerns under the Leahy Law.
The shift to kinetic strikes using MQ-9 Reapers and Tomahawk missiles represents the first acknowledged direct U.S. combat action on Nigerian soil. The move signals expanded operational authorities under the Trump administration’s counterterrorism approach to West Africa.
Christian casualties in Nigeria during 2025 remained severe. Intersociety reported 7,087 Christians killed in the first 220 days of the year, averaging more than 30 deaths per day, with 7,899 abducted. A European Parliament inquiry cited more than 7,000 victims and approximately 7,800 kidnappings in the first seven months. Since 2009, Intersociety data records 185,009 total slayings in Nigeria, including 125,009 Christians and 60,000 Muslims, alongside the destruction of 19,100 churches and the abduction of more than 600 Christian clerics.
The escalating death toll reflects the operational capacity and geographic reach of multiple jihadist groups. Boko Haram, founded in 2002, experienced a resurgence in 2025 under the leadership of Bakura Doro and continues operating across the Lake Chad Basin. ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, fields an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 fighters and has become the most active ISIS affiliate globally. Between July 2024 and July 2025, ISWAP claimed 445 attacks resulting in 1,552 casualties and has killed tens of thousands since 2016.
Another regional Islamist extremist organization, Lakurawa, linked to Islamic State Sahel Province, operates primarily in Sokoto and Kebbi states and was the principal target of the December U.S. strikes, having carried out at least 13 attacks in 2025. Fulani extremist groups continue to fuel farmer-herder violence in the Middle Belt, while Ansaru, an al-Qaeda-affiliated splinter group, has reemerged in northwest-central Nigeria.
In November 2025, the Trump administration designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern following a series of attacks on Christians, including a Catholic church shooting that killed two people, the kidnapping of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from a Catholic school in Papiri, and the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from a Catholic school in Kebbi State. President Trump threatened to cut foreign aid and warned that the United States would intervene directly if the violence continued.
Those warnings led to the strikes, which the United States conducted with the permission of and in coordination with Nigerian authorities. Nigeria ranked sixth in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index with a score of 7.658. Violence has displaced more than 12 million people since 2009, while the Nigerian military remains overstretched across multiple fronts. ISWAP’s rise as the world’s most active ISIS affiliate, combined with Boko Haram’s resurgence and the emergence of Lakurawa, reflects a widening terrorist threat with regional implications.
The policy of the previous U.S. administration, passive monitoring of terrorist activity, has proven insufficient against groups actively targeting Christians and destabilizing a country of more than 230 million people.
While former Biden National Security Council advisor Judd Devermont cautioned that instability in Nigeria will not be reversed overnight by increased U.S. involvement, the precision strikes demonstrate that targeted action against ISIS leadership and infrastructure can degrade capabilities and provide Nigerian forces critical breathing room. The hope is that a combination of direct action, sustained training, and intelligence support may offer a viable path to containing the threat before it further metastasizes across the Sahel.
 
The post Nigeria Counter Terrorism Operations in 2025 – Necessary, but ISIS Continues to expand appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

An elderly man was shoved into a moving train on New Year’s Day as he was waiting to board at the Bronx station.
The 72-year-old victim was transported to the hospital after suffering head injuries.
The suspect, 29-year-old Anton Aleshin, was charged with attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment.
PIX 11 reported:
A 72-year-old man was shoved into a moving train during an unprovoked attack in a Bronx subway station on New Year’s Day, authorities said.
The victim was pushed while he was waiting on the platform for the southbound No. 4 train at the 161st Street – Yankee Stadium subway station in Grand Concourse at around 3:30 a.m., according to the NYPD.
The straphanger was shoved into the No. 4 train as it was entering the station before bouncing off the train and landing back on the platform, police said.
The victim was taken to the hospital with head injuries. He is in stable condition.
Last December, a 72-year-old man was shoved onto the subway tracks in New York City and needed spinal surgery.
An illegal alien set a sleeping woman on fire as she rode the subway last December.
The latest violent attack comes just weeks after New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul declared victory and claimed subway crime is at its lowest levels in 16 years.
“Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York City Subway is on track for its safest year in a generation. With two weeks left in 2025, subway crime is at the lowest level in 16 years: overall major crime in the transit system is down 5.2 percent from 2024 and 14.4 percent from 2019,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, New York City elected Communist Muslim Zohran Mamdani as mayor.
Mamdani was sworn into office on Thursday after he vowed to empty the prisons.
The post HORROR: Elderly Man Shoved Into Moving Train in New York City on New Year’s Day appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil admits legacy media has lost the public’s trust.
Incoming CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil has admitted what we’ve all known for years: Legacy media’s credibility is in the toilet, flushed away by years of bias, lies, and pandering to the far left.
Dokoupil, who was confirmed last month as the next evening news anchor under newly installed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, will replace outgoing anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, both of whom exited the role after less than a year.
During his New Year’s Day message, Dokoupil openly acknowledged that legacy media has lost the public’s trust, and largely brought it on itself.
He cited a familiar list of media failures—NAFTA cheerleading, the Iraq War lies, Hillary Clinton’s emails, Russiagate, COVID lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and questions surrounding Biden’s fitness for office.
On all of them, he conceded, the press “missed the story” by prioritizing activists, academics, and elites over everyday Americans.
You can read Dokoupil’s full statement and watch the video below:

“A lot has changed since the first person sat in the Evening News chair. For me, the biggest difference is this: people don’t trust us like they used to.
And it’s not just us. It’s all legacy media.
I get it. I’ve been hearing about it from just about everybody, for more than 20 years, as I’ve traveled America on assignment. My mom’s neighbors in West Virginia. My own neighbors in New York City. Thousands of conversations in between.
Sometimes they want to talk to me about our coverage of NAFTA or the Iraq War. Other times, it’s about Hillary Clinton’s emails or Russiagate. Or more recently, COVID lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop or the president’s fitness for office.
The point is that on too many stories the press missed the story. Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.
I know this because, at certain points, I have been you. I have felt that way too. I have felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn’t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life. And that the most urgent questions simply weren’t being asked.
So here’s my promise to you as long as I sit in this chair: you come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS.
I report for you.
Which means I tell you what I know, when I know it and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I’ll tell you that too. It also means I’m going to talk to everybody, and hold everyone in public life to the same standard. And because I became a journalist to talk to people. I love talking to people about what works in this country, what doesn’t, and not only what should change, but the good ideas that never should.
I think telling the truth is one of them.
Hold me to it.”
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This comes as CBS News undergoes a much-needed purge under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Weiss was once a columnist at the New York Times but was hounded out of her position by liberal mean girls and social justice warriors.
She left the Times and created her own publication called The Free Press, and it became so successful that she was bought out and hired to take over at CBS News.
She has only been in charge for a short time, but big changes are already underway.
CBS parent company Paramount Global announced in October 2025 that it had made roughly 2,000 layoffs, including nearly 100 newsroom positions, and eliminated the network’s controversial “Race and Culture” unit — an internal ideological enforcement arm created during the Summer of Love riot in 2020.
According to reports, CBS also:

Canceled CBS Mornings Plus and CBS Evening News Plus
Shut down its South Africa bureau
Revamped its Saturday morning programming

Paramount CEO David Ellison confirmed the direction change in an internal memo, stating the company is “phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities.”
Translation: the woke experiment failed, ratings collapsed, and Americans tuned out.
It can be recalled that President Trump sued 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount for $10 billion in damages, alleging that they had deceptively edited a damning interview with Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes” the previous year. According to the lawsuit, Trump cited “the immense harm caused to him, to his campaign, and to tens of millions of citizens in Texas and across America by CBS’s deceptive broadcasting conduct.”
CBS deceptively cut out an answer she gave in the interview and replaced it with a completely different answer during the 2024 election cycle.
President Trump then announced a win in his lawsuit against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount, with a $16 million settlement.
“Just like ABC and George Slopadopoulos, CBS and its Corporate Owners knew that they defrauded the American People, and were desperate to settle,” Trump said.
“We also anticipate receiving $20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming, for a total of over $36 Million Dollars.”
Trump further slammed “The Wall Street Journal, The Failing New York Times, The Washington Post, MSDNC, CNN, and all other Mainstream Media Liars,” putting them on notice that they will not get away with lying to the American people any longer.
The post PANIC MODE: Tony Dokoupil Vows to Report “FOR YOU,” Not the Left, as CBS and Legacy Media Credibility COLLAPSES appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Kunshikitty attacked repeatedly on camera.
No surprises, except for the adventurous young woman who was proven wrong in a painful way.
Almost everyone recognizes, by now, how the suicidal policies of unchecked mass migration have frayed the European nations’ social fabric, and submitted women and children to a torrent of crime and abuse that only in the future will people have the real, catastrophic dimension.
But still, many young women let their leftism blind them to the obvious realities of life.
Case in point, a German Twitch streamer called Kunshikitty wanted to demonstrate, in Cologne, that women can safely walk through the cheerful ‘groups of men’ during the New Year’s Eve ‘celebrations.’
The young woman, who has over 220,000 followers, was hit by what some described as ‘Knallerbsen bang snaps’ during her broadcast on December 31.
Kunshikitty – Social media X. 
The clips gained millions of views with calls for deportations, as normal people were quick to make the obvious link of the incident to the reality of the rampant migrant violence, referencing Cologne’s 2015 assaults.
Yes, because in 2015 things were WAY worse.
The New Year’s Eve 2015 in Cologne became a tragedy where large groups of North African and Arab men surrounded, groped, robbed, and sexually assaulted hundreds of women in a coordinated manner.
It’s estimated that around 500–650 women were victims of severe groping, sexual assault, and several rapes, while many more incidents involved theft combined with harassment.
So, in the end, Kunshikitty didn’t have it so bad, comparatively.
She downplayed it as ‘a minor hit from an old jerk’, and urged fans to ignore what happened.
This, amid Germany’s chaotic NYE with a myriad of attacks on police and firefighters.

German streamer wanted to show how safe is to celebrate New Year’s with muslims and she got stoned pic.twitter.com/mfbyx6UYH1
— Kaguya’s Top Gal (@hayasaka_aryan) January 1, 2026

Read more:
Another European Landmark Lost: Historic Vondelkerk Church Burns on New Year’s Eve (VIDEO)
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The president said on social media that the National Guard succeeded in reducing crime in three cities.