🇮🇷⚡- Protestors in Asadabad, Hamedan Province, have begun erecting barricades in the center of the city to keep the Basij out.

🇮🇷⚡- The first casualty amongst the protestors has been confirmed – Dariush Ansari Bakhtiarvand, in the city of Fooladshahr, Isfahan Province, central Iran.

Bakhtiarvand was taken to the hospital last night, after suffering alleged 'gun-shot wounds'. Isfahan Police Department has confirmed the death, but did not specify the reason why he was killed.

🇾🇪🇸🇦🇦🇪⚡- A UAE vessel, Takreem, arrived in Yemen’s Socotra Island despite the Saudi-ban on air and sea ports.

Emirati officers on the island supervised the forced unloading of the vessel's cargo.

🇮🇷⚡- 3 protestors in Azna, Lorestan Province, died while storming the Azna Police Headquarters, and attempting to obtain weapons from its armory.

The death toll of the protestors rises to 5, and 2 security personnel.

🇮🇷⚡- Scenes from Hamedan, Hamedan Province, western Iran. Reports of protestors raising barricades in the center of the city.

🇮🇷⚡- Asadabad, Hamedan Province, western Iran, right now.

🇮🇷⚡️- BREAKING: Iranian outlets are reporting that multiple cities are now under complete martial law.

NAPO security forces have taken back control of Lali in Khuzestan Province and the city of Hamadan, with rioters retreating.

🇮🇷⚡️- The protests in most cities seemingly are over with most people returning back to their homes, the police and security forces have taken control of every city in the country.

There are many injured and arrested.

🇮🇱⚡️- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to Israel, although notably his wife and son have stayed in Florida.

🇷🇺⚡️- Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen State, was hospitalized in Moscow on December 24th.

His condition at this moment is unknown. Although, there have been reports that he required resuscitation and barely survived. - Yahoo News.

🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️- "All the cities where the rioters were causing chaos have been cleared by our personnel and forces, and the safety of the people in the cities has been restored. The unrest that the Zionist regime wanted to create has been successfully foiled." – Colonel Ebrahimi, Commander of the Special Forces Unit (NOPO).

🇮🇷⚡️- What we know about the Iranian riots:

Earlier today, the riots were likely the most brutal since the start of the protests. NOPO was deployed in place of the regular anti-riot police force after standard police units were unable to contain and shut down the riots. NOPO is known for its harsh tactics, and its commander is under U.S. sanctions for involvement in violent crackdowns. Multiple rioters were shot or arrested; many of those killed were reportedly attempting to seize weapons from government and police buildings.

The Special Units are divided into four battalions: Imam Ali, Musa ibn Ja‘far, Imam Khomeini, and Imam Hussein, consisting of around 300,000 armed personnel. In addition, there are two Special Units: NOPO (the special operations unit) and the regular anti-riot police, with about 60,000 personnel.

The protests and riots escalated to Code 2, which is why NOPO was deployed to confront them. Had NOPO failed to contain the riots, the situation could have escalated to Code 3, potentially leading to the deployment of IRGC forces onto the streets of Iran.

As of today, NOPO has successfully repelled and shut down the majority of the riots. While small pockets of clashes remain, most riots have been suppressed, with many individuals shot or arrested.

There is significant misinformation circulating from both sides about what is actually happening. Iran is not, at least for now, on the verge of collapse; the 2022 riots were larger in scale, and NOPO appears to have effectively contained tonight’s riots.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Hezbollah has been warned by Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar that this is their last chance to disarm before an Israeli attack. - Israeli media.

🇸🇴🇦🇪⚡- Multiple Saudi media are reporting Somalia is preparing to expel the UAE Ambassador to Mogadishu, thus severing ties with the Emirati state.

🇸🇦🇦🇪⚡- Saudi Arabia has recalled its Consul in Abu Dhabi, Abdullah bin Mansour, as well as several Saudi businessmen from the Gulf state, as relations continue to deteriorate.

🇸🇩⚡- Sudanese drone strike kills Hamid Ali Abubakar, a senior advisor to Hamdan Dagalo, the Head of the Rapid Support Forces, RSF

Hamid Ali Abubakar served as Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, RAC, an elite brigade loyal to the RSF. Abubakar's RAC were one of the units responsible for capturing al-Fashir in the Darfur region, and committing massacres against civilians.