Michelle Kellerman

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran says it's been receiving credible firsthand reports of hospitals packed with injured protesters in Tehran and other cities.

Videos have been circulating online of security forces using live fire against the protesters.

Rallies began two weeks ago, first in response to the collapsing economy.

Israeli sources say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the protests with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who posted on X that the U.S.

supports the brave people of Iran.

Iran is warning that any attack would trigger a response against Israel and against U.S.

military bases across the region.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu was recently in Florida visiting President Trump and says he told the U.S.

leader that Israel has come of age and developed, quote, incredible capabilities.

In the interview with The Economist, the Israeli leader did not set any specific deadlines, but he says he wants to taper off the military aid within the next 10 years.

The U.S.

and Israel signed a 10-year commitment during the Obama administration that amounts to about $3.8 billion a year, much of it in grants to buy U.S.

military equipment.

Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, but this could be a challenging election year for him.

He often touts his relationship with President Trump.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

President Trump has said he will chair the Board of Peace, but he hasn't yet named anyone else, nor has he stood up a promised international force for Gaza.

The man widely believed to be tapped for a key post is Nikolai Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat who worked for a decade as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process until 2020.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's office says he met with Mladenov and reiterated that Hamas must be disarmed in Gaza.