Iran reportedly breaks diplomatic contact with US as tension grows

Contacts between Tehran and Washington cut off, as Iran shows no sign of heeding US warnings over protest crackdown.Published On 14 Jan 2026|Updated: 30 minutes agoDirect contact between senior officials from the United States and Iran has broken down, according to reports, amid soaring tensions surrounding the threat of US military strikes in response to Tehran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.Communications between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Wittkof have been suspended, a senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.The report came amid President Donald Trump’s threats to take military action against Iran over the killing of protesters, just months after US forces bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel in June.Tehran has pledged to retaliate against US military bases in the region should it be attacked.Amid the tensions, some personnel have been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, Washington’s largest military base in the Middle East, by Wednesday evening, Reuters reported, citing diplomatic sources.Chief justice calls for swift punishmentsDespite Trump’s escalating warnings over the crackdown, the head of Iran’s judiciary signalled on Wednesday that there would be swift trials and punishments for those detained in the demonstrations.“If we want to do a job, we should do it now,” Judge Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared online by Iranian state television.“If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly.”Any delay would reduce the effect of deterrence, he added.“If it becomes late – two months, three months later – it doesn’t have the same effect.”