Overview
- The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin held separate calls on Jan. 16–17 with Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and is ready to promote dialogue.
- In the conversation with Pezeshkian, Russia pledged to deepen a strategic partnership, and Iran’s presidency thanked Moscow for support at the United Nations.
- Independent monitors report thousands killed in Iran’s crackdown, protests have waned after a week-long internet blackout, and activists say tens of thousands of Starlink terminals were smuggled in to evade controls.
- The White House reiterated that all options remain on the table, and reports say the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group has been repositioned near Iran.
- Diplomatic fallout widened as the Munich Security Conference withdrew its invitation to Iran’s foreign minister and Russia’s UN envoy accused the United States of stoking tensions.