Talk of the Town
(LONDON) — An American fighter jet appears to have been shot down by Iran, according to three U.S. officials. Search and rescue operations are currently underway, the officials said.
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(NEW YORK) — In announcing the U.S. military strike on Iran, President Donald Trump went significantly beyond his previous justification of destroying the country’s nuclear program.
He’s now also calling for regime change — and encouraging the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow their government.
Three sources briefed on the attack told ABC News that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both targeted during the strikes.
But whether American bombing could help make regime change happen — without also deploying U.S. forces on the ground — was unclear, as was who might replace Iran’s current leaders.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump announced in a video posted to his social media account early Saturday morning.
Speaking to what he called “the great, proud people of Iran,” he added, “I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand.”
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” he said.
“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond.” he said.
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” he said.
Shortly after, in a brief phone call with a Washington Post reporter, the president said that all he wants is “freedom for the people” of Iran.
In January, during widespread protests in Iran when thousands of Iranians were reported killed, Trump posted on social media, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
“HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added at the time, though he faced criticism for taking no further action at that point.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his own video statement Saturday echoed Trump’s call, saying the attack’s goal was “to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
Iran has claimed it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon and has the sovereign right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program for civilian purposes.
Imminent threat?
Up to now, Trump has said he preferred a diplomatic solution and has not presented a clear justification for why strikes are needed now, since he has repeatedly insisted Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” in U.S. strikes he ordered last June — a claim he repeated at last week’s State of the Union address.
In making his new case for the strikes, the president is arguing attacks are warranted to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime” without providing clear evidence of that.
Trump also argued Iranian missiles could “soon” reach the U.S — but the president has provided no details.
Iran is “developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland,” he said.
Yet, according to a one-page document released by the Defense Intelligence Agency earlier this year, Iran is looking to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035.
Just a few days ago, after the president’s State of the Union address, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Iranian missiles could reach the United States “one day.”
“Clearly, they are headed in a pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that can reach the continental U.S. They already possess weapons that can reach much of Europe already now as we speak, and the ranges continue to grow every single year exponentially,” Rubio said.
Whether the Iranian missile threat was “imminent” — and whether Congress should vote on committing American troops to an extensive military operation — aimed at pursuing such a broad goal of regime change in Iran — will likely dominate the debate when lawmakers return to Washington this week.
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(LONDON) — Erfan Soltani is one of thousands of Iranian protesters who have been arrested amid deadly anti-government protests nationwide, according to his family and human rights organizations.
Days after his arrest last week in Fardis — near the capital of Tehran — the 26-year-old was sentenced to death following an expedited trial, according to his second cousin, Somayeh, who has drawn attention to his case as ongoing internet and communication blockages limit information coming out of Iran about the protests.
“As someone who is an activist myself and who has fought this regime for many years, I felt it was my right — and my duty — to be Erfan’s voice outside the country, despite all the pressure and sanctions that fall on families,” Somayeh, who is based in Germany, told ABC News in an interview in Persian on Wednesday.
Somayeh, who did not want to share her last name, said Soltani’s family members had been told that he would be executed on Wednesday.
She was informed through the family that he had not been executed that day, she told ABC News. Somayeh added that the family said they had not seen her cousin in person yet.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had been told by “very important sources on the other side” that the executions are not happening.
“It was supposed to be a lot of executions today, and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said during remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Following President Trump’s remarks, the Islamic Republic judiciary media center announced Thursday that Soltani was not sentenced to death.
The judiciary, as quoted by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said Soltani was currently being held at the central penitentiary in the city of Karaj on charges of “gathering and colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime.” If convicted, the judiciary said, Soltani would be imprisoned but not executed, as “the death penalty does not exist in the law for such charges,” according to IRIB.
Reacting to the latest Islamic Republic judiciary’s announcement, Somayeh, said she is “happy to hear the news” but is still “concerned.”
“I am happy to hear this news from the media, but there is still concern because as far as we know, no contact has been made and Erfan is still in prison. We hope that his sentence will be completely overturned and he will be released,” Somayeh told ABC News Thursday morning.
In an interview with Fox on Wednesday, the Iranian foreign minister said there were no hangings on Wednesday, and that there won’t be for the rest of the week.
Somayeh said she is speaking out about her cousin, whom she described as a “kind soul” who is “so compassionate to people,” in hopes of having his sentence overturned.
“I felt responsible to make sure his voice was heard, so that maybe this sentence could be overturned — and beyond Erfan,” she said. “He is not the first and he will not be the last person to receive a death sentence overnight.”
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iran carried out an “unprecedented” number of executions last year. In 2025, there were 2,063 recorded executions, the highest annual figure over the past 11 years, according to the report from the group.
Soltani’s case has been highlighted by international human rights groups such as the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights and Amnesty International, which said the international community must call on Iranian authorities to “immediately halt all executions.”
“Amid the Iranian authorities’ unprecedented crackdown on ongoing nationwide protests, marked by mass killings and sweeping arrests, concerns are mounting that authorities will once again resort to swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush and deter dissent,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Monday that highlighted Soltani’s case. “Iran’s head of judiciary ordered prosecutors to ‘act without leniency’ against protesters heightening fears for the lives of detained protesters and other dissidents.”
The first marches took place in late December in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial. As the protests spread, they have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.
More than 2,500 people have died during nationwide protests in Iran since Dec. 28, HRANA said Wednesday. The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers.
The Iranian foreign minister told Fox News on Wednesday that “hundreds” are dead.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have also framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and sponsored by foreign nations, prime among them the U.S. and Israel.
ABC News’ David Brennan contributed to this report.
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(LONDON) — U.S. officials are expected to meet with Danish and Greenlandic counterparts in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, amid President Donald Trump’s continued expressions of intent to acquire the semi-autonomous Arctic territory despite collective opposition in both Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt are set to lead the delegation to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
In Denmark, “this is the big national news,” Jonas Parello-Plesner, a Danish political analyst and former diplomat, told ABC News. “If in the first Trump period the saying was, ‘You should take him seriously, but not literally,’ I think the saying this time around is, ‘You should both take him seriously and literally.'”
Trump first raised the prospect of acquiring the territory during his first term, when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the idea as “absurd.” Trump’s second term has seen the president speak more aggressively about the proposal.
“Even from a year ago, I see a quite stark difference in both Greenlandic and Danish attitudes that this is actually potentially really serious and life changing for the Kingdom of Denmark,” said Parello-Plesner, who is now the executive director at the Copenhagen-based nonprofit Alliance of Democracies Foundation.
Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told ABC News that the furor is prompting deeper questions among Danes and Greenlanders about their long-standing ties to the U.S.
“Is this who the U.S. is now? A superpower going around, invading its small democratic allies?” he asked. “That’s scary to think of.”
“Just think of what it will do for the American alliance system worldwide,” he added. “What kind of signal it sends — if you’re allied with the U.S., you may be invaded whenever it suits the U.S.”
‘You need ownership’
Trump has repeatedly suggested that U.S. sovereignty over the world’s largest island is necessary to ensure American security and blunt Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic region.
As a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is covered by NATO’s collective defense clause. Greenland hosts the U.S. Pituffik Space Base and around 150 American troops, the U.S. having significantly downgraded its footprint from its high point during the Cold War.
A 1951 defense agreement grants the U.S. military access to Greenland, and Danish politicians have repeatedly expressed willingness to work with Washington to expand the American and NATO presence there.
Danish officials have also sought to head off concerns about the supposed vulnerability of the Arctic. Last year, Copenhagen announced a $6.5 billion Arctic defense package in response to U.S. criticism that it had failed to adequately protect Greenland.
But Trump and his administration appear undeterred. “One way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One this weekend.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will and I’m not letting that happen,” Trump said, before deriding Denmark’s military strength on the island.
“Basically, their defense is two dog sleds,” Trump said. “In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place.”
Asked if there was a deal to be done to avoid further tensions, Trump said he would “love to” because “it would be easier.”
But when pressed, the president said, “I could put a lot of soldiers there right now if I want. But you need more than that. You need ownership.”
Ahead of this week’s meeting, Danish and Greenlandic politicians issued statements again rebuffing any suggestion of a U.S. acquisition of the island, statements which were backed by other European leaders.
“If the United States decides to attack another NATO country, then everything would stop — that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security,” Frederiksen said in a statement.
“Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is a member of NATO through the Commonwealth and therefore the defense of Greenland is through NATO,” the government in Nuuk said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen posted a photo to social media showing a message sent to him by Frederiksen.
“Greenland will not be owned by the United States,” the message — written in Greenlandic — said. “Greenland does not want to be ruled by the United States. Greenland does not want to be a part of the United States. We want Greenland to continue to function as part of the Kingdom.”
The leaders of all five political parties holding seats in Greenland’s parliament also released a joint statement. “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said.
Before heading to the U.S. on Tuesday, Rasmussen — the Danish foreign minister — told reporters in Copenhagen, “Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given was to move this whole discussion, which has not become less tense since we last met, into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things.”
Appealing to ‘the deal-maker’
Olesen, of the Danish Institute for International Studies, said Trump’s most recent comments “should worry Danish politicians.” His apparent dismissal of Copenhagen’s efforts to bolster its Arctic readiness “means that either he hasn’t noticed” or “he doesn’t care. And either way, it’s pretty bad.”
Trump told The New York Times he believed U.S. ownership of Greenland “is what I feel is psychologically necessary for success.” That, too, is “problematic” for Copenhagen, Olesen said. “How do you deal with that?” he asked.
“That’s the conundrum for the Danish and the Greenlandic politicians,” Olesen said, “trying not to provoke Trump too much and trying to give him something.”
“It will be difficult to offer a compromise if all he wants is ownership,” he added.
Parello-Plesner, the former Danish diplomat, said the experiences of other nations during Trump’s second term may offer models.
Trump’s focus on Panama and perceived Chinese overreach produced a proposed deal for a U.S. firm to take control of two ports there owned by a Hong Kong conglomerate. The president described the deal as “reclaiming the Panama Canal.”
José Raúl Mulino, the president of Panama, addressed Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal in a post on X last March, saying in part: “President Trump is lying again. The Panama Canal is not in the process of being recovered, and this was certainly not a topic of discussion in our conversations with Secretary Rubio or anyone else. On behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, I reject this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation.”
In Ukraine, Kyiv alleviated U.S. pressure by agreeing to a rare earth minerals sharing deal as part of the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
“There’s also a very pragmatic side to Trump — the deal maker,” Parello-Plesner said. “I think our side needs to give him something to work with,” he added.
That could mean fresh commitments on American military deployments in Greenland, a deal related to the territory’s untapped mineral wealth or a pledge to do more to block autocratic states from asserting their Arctic ambitions, Parello-Plesner said.
It is unclear what might appeal to the U.S. side, he continued. “We’ve seen for 30 years that the U.S. has just wanted to cut down on the presence up there and only uses it for limited missile defense purposes,” he said.
Regarding Greenland’s believed mineral wealth, Parello-Plesner said the U.S. government and private companies have been largely uninterested given the territory’s inhospitable weather and terrain, extraction challenges and global market forces.
A symbolic win might be enough to take the heat out of Trump’s push, Olesen said.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how far Danish and Greenlandic politicians feel they can go in order to avoid being humiliated, in order to avoid handing over the Greenlandic underground to a bully,” Olesen continued.
“But then again, the stakes are so high, so I wouldn’t rule it out, and I wouldn’t rule out that if this is something that could solve the crisis.”
In the meantime, both analysts said Copenhagen and Nuuk are likely to focus on bolstering the image of domestic unity, European solidarity, backing from the U.S. Congress and NATO-led Arctic security.
“The Trump policy line is not invulnerable,” Olesen said, noting pushback from U.S. voters and members of Congress — including prominent Republicans.
“At some point, Trump may decide that it’s not worth the bother anymore, and in that case, it would probably be wise to offer him some way to save face and get out of it,” he said.
But months of back and forth over Greenland have already done significant damage to transatlantic sentiment in Denmark, Parello-Plesner said, in a country he said has long prided itself on broad support for NATO and for close relations with the U.S. Danish forces, for example, sustained a comparable per capita casualty rate as the U.S. in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
That strength of feeling, he said, “has dropped tremendously.”
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