US, Iran ratchet up rhetoric as carrier Lincoln forms in Middle East

Al Jazeera-Jan27th2026

ByUrooba JamalandJillian Kestler-D’Amours

• Tehran’s leadership wants “to make a deal”.
• Iranian authorities continue to warn of serious ramifications in case of US military strikes, as more people are arrested in connection with the deadly protests amid a lingering internet blackout.
• The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Middle East “is not going to affect Iran’s determination and seriousness to defend the Iranian nation”, the Foreign Ministry says.
• An unnamed senior US official tells reporters during a call that Washington is “open for business” if the Iranians “want to contact us”.

With Iran threats, Trump pushing limits of US executive power

One year into his second term, Trump is testing the outer limits of executive power – from the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to his threats towards Iran.

Marc Lamont Hill, host of Al Jazeera’s UpFront, spoke with Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, about what Trump pushing those boundaries could mean for the rest of his presidency.

Some Iranian networks visible globally as internet shutdown continues: Netblocks

Iran’s internet shutdown is approaching day 20, and some networks are becoming visible internationally, says internet watchdog Netblocks.

The monitor alleged that this does not mean things are back to normal, but rather that some traffic is being allowed and being tightly controlled by the Iranian government.

“Web still heavily filtered on a whitelist basis”, Netblocks wrote in its latest update, adding that “Circumvention [is] still needed”.

Iranians face mounting pressure amid currency devaluation

ByTohid Asadi

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

The Iranian local currency has been experiencing a drastic devaluation over the past few months, following years of international sanctions and domestic mismanagement.

This, practically speaking, has put a huge amount of pressure on [people’s] lives.

It’s putting a direct impact on prices and inflation, and other indicators.

Read more on original:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/1/27/live-us-iran-ratchet-up-rhetoric-as-big-armada-forms-in-the-middle-east