PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 8th, 2026: Iran’s Protesters Just Crossed a Dangerous Line & ICE Shooting Sparks Outrage
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It's Thursday, the 8th of January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, violent clashes are spreading across Iran as nationwide protests enter their 12th day, with demonstrators crossing a dangerous new line by openly attacking one of the regime's most sacred symbols. I'll have those details. Later in the show, an ICE officer shoots and kills a woman in Minneapolis, sparking anger, protests, and renewed scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Violent clashes erupted across Iran last night as anti-government protests moved into their 12th day, with security forces and demonstrators confronting each other in multiple cities nationwide.
Now, I want to point out that demo developments on the ground in Iran are changing and happening minute by minute. This is a very fast-breaking situation. So we will be providing further updates tomorrow and as it continues. Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency, which is closely aligned with the regime's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, reports that two police officers were shot and killed by armed individuals in the southwestern town of Lortagan. Now, videos circulating on social media show tense standoffs between protesters and security forces with gunfire clearly audible in the background. In other footage, security forces appear to fire live rounds and tear gas into crowds, while demonstrators respond by throwing stones.
According to the U.S.-based human rights activist's news agency, protests have now spread to 111 cities and towns across all 31 of Iran's provinces now. Those facts alone, of course, for the regime would be alarming, but what's happening next is even more telling. In some of the most dramatic footage to emerge so far, protesters are seen toppling and burning statues of late General Qasem Soleimani. Now, Soleimani wasn't just a military figure. He was the longtime head of the Quds Force, the external operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, the unit responsible for exporting Iran's violence and influence and terror across the region and beyond. After Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike back in 2020, the regime moved quickly to turn him into a legend, a hero of the regime.
Statues bearing his likeness appeared across Iran.
What are the latest developments in the Iranian protests?
Murals went up. Streets were renamed. He was elevated into a near-mythic martyr, part military hero, part religious symbol. Now, so those monuments weren't just decoration. They were physical reminders of the IRGC's power and reach and willingness to crush dissent. And that's precisely why protesters are targeting them now. By tearing down Soleimani's image, demonstrators aren't simply venting anger at the regime. They're directly challenging the institution that enforces the regime's rule. They're rejecting the fear that the IRGC relies on to maintain control. And in Iran, that's an extraordinarily bold and dangerous line to cross. What we're seeing in the streets right now is no longer limited to economic grievances or calls for reform.
It's an open assault on the symbols of power that have kept the Islamic Republic intact for decades. The regime understands that, and its response makes that clear. According to reporting from the New York Times and BBC News, Iranian security forces have intensified their crackdown as the protests persist. Live ammunition has been used in multiple locations. Arrests are mounting. Journalists, students, and even family members of demonstrators are being detained. Internet disruptions and communications blackouts have become more frequent, and the regime has now moved to pull the plug completely on Internet access and use, potentially signaling a further aggressive crackdown. It's the behavior of a regime trying to reassert control through fear.
For years, Tehran has relied on a simple equation. Repression works if people believe that resistance is futile. The RGC exists to enforce that belief.
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