{"id":55830,"date":"2026-01-13T03:29:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T08:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-says-irans-leadership-nearing-end-amid-mass-protests\/13\/01\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T03:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T08:29:53","slug":"merz-says-irans-leadership-nearing-end-amid-mass-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-says-irans-leadership-nearing-end-amid-mass-protests\/13\/01\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz says Iran&#8217;s leadership nearing end amid mass protests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Iran&#8217;s current leadership may be nearing its end amid mass protests across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;If a regime can only stay in power through the use of violence, then it is effectively finished,&#8221; Merz said on Tuesday during a visit to Bengaluru in India. &#8220;I assume that we may now be witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Merz had already condemned the actions of Iranian security forces against peaceful protesters on Monday, describing them as &#8220;disproportionate&#8221; and &#8220;brutal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex ad-container\" id=\"_R_b1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[#_R_b1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: none; }\n@media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) {\n        #_R_b1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: flex; }\n        iframe { max-width: 100vw; }\n      }]]><\/style>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 hidden pb-5 md:block\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex ad-container\" id=\"_R_j1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[#_R_j1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: none; }\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) {\n        #_R_j1p56mhek5clubsnm6jbH1_ { display: flex; }\n        iframe { max-width: 100vw; }\n      }]]><\/style>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Iran has been gripped since December 28 by its most serious protest wave for years. What began as protests by shopkeepers over a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian rial and mounting economic hardship quickly spiralled into nationwide demonstrations against the country&#8217;s hardline Islamic rulers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Activists say the security forces have responded using brutal tactics, including firing tear gas and bullets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Oslo-based human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) says at least 648 people have been killed since the protests erupted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/merz-says-irans-leadership-nearing-075821817.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Iran&rsquo;s current leadership may be nearing its end amid mass protests across the country. &ldquo;If a regime<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-says-irans-leadership-nearing-end-amid-mass-protests\/13\/01\/2026\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/en\/dpa_international_526\/a44d471f3a0854518e3181a169a27683","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}