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PresidentDonald Trumptold reporterson Feb. 6 that a deal that only saw Iran commit to eliminate its nuclear weapons, with no other concessions, would be "acceptable."

"Right up front, no nuclear weapons," Trump added.

Iran has expressed openness to a deal if it only involves nuclear issues.

Anti-government protests in Iran appeared to accelerate on Jan. 9, sparked by anger over the collapse of the country's currency and a broader sense of hopelessness and disillusionment with Tehran's clerical leaders.

The uptick in unrest also comes as President Donald Trump warned Iran's authorities against killing peaceful protesters, saying Washington "will come to their rescue."

See the scenes in Iran, beginning here on the streets amid anti-government unrest in Tehran, Iran, in this still image obtained from social media video released on January 8, 2026. Witnesses told Reuters protesters gathered in the streets on Thursday, January 8, however this video's date taken has not been verified.

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See Iran's anti-government protests, huge crowds, unrest in photos

Anti-government protests in Iranappeared to accelerate on Jan. 9, sparked by anger over the collapse of the country's currency and a broader sense of hopelessness and disillusionment with Tehran's clerical leaders.

The uptick in unrest also comes as PresidentDonald Trumpwarned Iran's authorities against killing peaceful protesters, sayingWashington "will come to their rescue."See the scenes in Iran, beginning here on the streets amid anti-government unrest in Tehran, Iran, in this still image obtained from social media video released on January 8, 2026. Witnesses told Reuters protesters gathered in the streets on Thursday, January 8, however this video's date taken has not been verified.

"We do not discuss any other issue with the U.S.," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after the first day of talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Oman on Feb. 6, which he called a "good start."

That red line puts the high-stakes negotiations on a collision course with Israel, which has insisted that Iran's ballistic missiles and its military support for its proxy forces in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, must also be on the table.

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahuis coming to Washington, DC on Feb. 11, where he is expected to push Trump to hold Iran to those additional conditions. Netanyahu "believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis," his office said in a Feb. 8statement.

The United States dropped more than a dozen penetrating bombs onIran's nuclear facilitiesin June 2025. Trump hasrenewed his threatsto reattack in recent weeks, amid the largest protests Iran has seen in decades and a brutal government crackdown in response that has killed thousands.

Ballistic missiles key to Iran's defense

The problem with those non-nuclear demands, according to experts, is that they would require Iran to completely restructure its national security strategy and decades of its defense dogma.

"The ballistic missile program is a key pillar of Iranian defense strategy," said Brian Carter, a research manager at the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project, who is focused on Iran and its regional partners. "For the Iranians to agree to a condition (limiting it) would be tantamount to a complete rethink of Iranian security policy over the last 10 years or longer than that."

"I don't know what exactly the United States is looking for in terms of limits, but it's an unrealistic expectation," he said.

It's not clear what kind of limit Israel wants to impose on Iran's ballistic missile stockpiles – whether on the number of missiles it could maintain or on the range that the missiles could reach. Iran has both medium-range ballistic missiles, which can reach around 620 to 1,860 miles, and short-range ballistic missiles, which cover a range less than that.

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More:US military shoots down Iranian drone that 'aggressively' approached ship

From Iran's perspective, a limit on missile range would be akin to "taking our ability to retaliate and deter Israel while they have no limit on their ability to attack us," said Jim Lamson, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

A cap on the range of Iran's medium-range ballistic missiles, which can reach Israel, would also not address the risk posed to U.S. bases in the region, which Iran can reach with its short-range missiles. There are at least 40,000 U.S. troopsstationedin the region, as of June of last year, which would be a prime target for Iran's retaliation, if attacked.

"It would not be possible to attack American soil, but we will target their bases in the region" if attacked, Araqchi said on Feb. 6.

Iran's reliance on ballistic missiles as the central pillar of its military strategy dates back to its war with Iraq in the 1980s. "They learned the hard way," Lamson said.

In the years since, Iran built up an "asymmetric" military strategy that centers on ballistic missiles and regional forces and "exploits our defense posture and hits us where we have gaps," according to Carter.

Carter and Lamson both likened a U.S. demand for Iran to give up its ballistic missiles to asking the United States to give up its aircraft carriers – a central facet of American military force and defense strategy. Trumphas dispatchedone of the country's aircraft carriers, the USS Abraham Lincoln, along with its three accompanying warships, to the Middle East amid his threats to attack Iran.

Even if Iran agreed on a limit to its ballistic missile capabilities, verifying its compliance would present an additional set of challenges, Lamson said.

"There's no way" Iran would accept the "intrusive monitoring and verification of ballistic missile development and production facilities" necessary to keep tabs on that limit, he added.

Iran's missile arsenal degraded, but unclear how much

While Israel's attack on Iran during the 12-Day War last June significantly degraded its ballistic missile stockpiles, it's not clear how much Iran has been able to replenish its arsenal.

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then the commander of U.S. Central Command,told senatorsin 2022 that Iran had more than 3,000 ballistic missiles. Iranfired370 missiles at Israel during the war last June, around a half to a third of its stockpile, leaving it with around 1,500 missiles left, according to Israeliestimates.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Israel wants ballistic missile limits. Iran won't budge. Is it war?

APTOPIX China New Year Travel

He's one of the hundreds of millions expected to travel to their hometowns as part of the world's largest movement of humanity, or "chunyun" as it's called in China, ahead of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 17.

"Things feel worse this year than last. The economy is bad and it's getting harder to make money," he said.

Liu chose a slower train to save money: a high-speed train would take just nine hours but costs more than twice as much.

Nonetheless, he chose to make the 30-hour journey to be home for the festival, the one time of year workers across the country take breaks and spend time with their loved ones.

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China's government estimates that 9.5 billion trips will be made during the 40 day-period around the festival, a record high, according to information from the National Development and Reform Commission. Some 540 million of those trips will be made via train, and 95 million by air. The rest will be on the road.

In a country where workers are expected to put in long hours — including on weekends — and get few days of annual leave, the Lunar New Year festival is a precious time.

At a train station in Beijing, passengers were crowded in the waiting areas with large bags and suitcases as they waited for their trains. Others snacked on instant noodles, an easy snack as stations provide hot water for free.

Tian Duofu, a young woman who recently started working full time in Beijing, said she was looking forward to the nine-day holiday, which begins Feb. 15. "It has become more difficult for a big family to get together. After I started working, I realized such a long holiday is rare and we see each other less and less in person, which makes the Spring Festival significant."

"The new year is the festival of the year, and if we don't go back home, we won't be able to enjoy the festival atmosphere," said Tian Yunxia, a woman from Henan province who runs a breakfast stall in Beijing. "I want to go home to see my children, my grandchildren and my husband."

Kaupo Rosin, the head of Estonia's foreign intelligence service, said Moscow is playing for time in the talks with Washington and "there is absolutely no discussion about how to really cooperate with the U.S. in a meaningful way."

Rosin, who spoke at an online briefing with reporters ahead of the publication of Estonia's annual security report on Tuesday, said the findings were based on intelligence his country gathered from "Russian internal discussions." He did not elaborate on how the information was obtained.

Russian officials have publicly insisted they want a negotiated deal, but they show little willingness to compromise and remain adamant theirdemands must be met.

U.S.-brokered talksbetween envoys from Russia and Ukraine in recent weeks have been described by officials from both sides as constructive and positive, but there has beenno sign of any progresson key issues in the discussions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, "in his head, still thinks that he can actually militarily win (in Ukraine) at some point," Rosin said.

A White House official responded to the Estonian intelligence chief's comments and said the president's negotiators had made "tremendous progress" on the talks to end the war in Ukraine. Although prisoner exchanges have happened sporadically since May, they pointed in particular to a recent agreement in Abu Dhabi among the U.S., Ukraine and Russia to release more than 300 prisoners.

That agreement was evidence that efforts to end the war are advancing, said the official, who was granted anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly.

In an indication that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to accelerate the momentum of peace efforts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that Washington has given Ukraine and Russia aJune deadline to reach a settlement. Trump over the past year has set several deadlines that have come and gone without apparent consequences.

Fiona Hill, a Russia expert and adviser to Trump in his first term, said Trump and his officials are spinning a story that depicts the U.S. president as a peacemaker and, for that reason, they are not interested in changing their assessment that Putin wants to end the war.

Both leaders, she told the AP, "need their version of events to play out" and are hanging on to their version of the truth — Putin as the victor in Ukraine and Trump as the dealmaker.

It's unclear why US officials believe Putin wants peace

Although Trump has repeatedly suggested that Putin wants peace, he hassometimes appeared frustratedwith the Russian leader's lukewarm approach to talks.

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From an intelligence perspective, Rosin said he doesn't know why U.S. officials believe the Russian leader wants to end the war.

Hill, who served as a national intelligence officer under previous U.S. administrations, said it's unclear what intelligence information Trump gets on Russia — or if he reads it.

He relies heavily on his lead negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who Hill said may struggle to believe that the damage to the Russian economy caused by the war is a price Putin is willing to pay for Ukraine.

Referring to reports that Witkoff has attended meetings with Putin without a U.S. State Department translator, she questioned if Trump's envoys understood what was being said in meetings and suggested officials may be "selectively" looking for what they want to hear.

Being told what they want to hear

Putin is fixated on controlling all of Ukraine and the idea "is so deep in his head" that it takes priority over anything else, including economics, Rosin said, suggesting that the conflict will continue in some form for several years.

He said Putin's position may change only if the situation in Russia, or on the front line, becomes "catastrophic," threatening his power. For now, the Russian leader still believes he can take Ukraine and "outsmart everybody," Rosin said.

One reason Putin thinks he can win militarily in Ukraine is because he is "definitely" getting some incorrect information from his officials, the Estonian intelligence chief said.

Not all Russian officials, however, believe they are winning the war in Ukraine, Rosin said.

"The lower you go in the food chain," the more people understand "how bad it is actually on the ground," he said, whereas higher up, officials are more optimistic because they are given more positive reports. Rosin cited examples of officials being told Russian forces had captured Ukrainian settlements when that was not true.

The reports that arrive at Putin's desk may be "much more optimistic" than the situation on the ground because Putin only wants to see success, Rosin said.

Hill said both Trump and Putin are probably being told what they want to hear by people who want to please them.

___ White House reporter Seung Min Kim in Washington D.C. contributed to this report. Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine athttps://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Jerami Grant and Donovan Clingan each added 15 points for the Trail Blazers, who trailed 65-64 at halftime before outscoring the 76ers 49-22 in the third to take control.

Embiid, who scored 33 points in a win at Phoenix on Saturday night, sat out against Portland to rest his right knee after an off day. Tyrese Maxey had 30 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. 19 for the 76ers, who wrapped up a 3-2 Western road trip and lost for just the second time in eight games overall.

Philadelphia took a 67-64 lead coming out of halftime on Andre Drummond's layup, but the 76ers never led again.

Grant made a 3-pointer to tie it and Avdija — who sat out last Saturday in a win against Memphis with a back ailment — followed with a 3 of his own to put Portland ahead. That set off an 18-4 run that was capped by another 3 by Avdija to make it 82-69.

The Trail Blazers took their biggest lead of the game at 28 points on Robert Williams III's 3-pointer with 29 seconds left in the third to put Portland up 113-85.

Scoot Henderson, who sat out last Saturday with a left hamstring ailment after making his season debut for the Trail Blazers the previous night, returned and had 12 points and seven assists.

Portland finished 22 of 54 from 3-point range.

76ers: Host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.

Trail Blazers: Play at Minnesota on Wednesday night.

AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The six individual civil suits were filed in the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania on Friday, Feb. 6. Each player is represented by the same attorney, Keenan Holmes. Each suit alleges Title IX violations and that Verdi inflicted "emotional, psychological, and physical abuse" against the players and that he created a "hostile, discriminatory, and retaliatory environment."

Much of the allegations in the six lawsuits — which USA TODAY Sports obtained copies of — read similarly and cite the same instances to back up their allegations that Verdi "weaponized his authority to manipulate, demean, and emotionally destabilize players through targeted mistreatment, verbal abuse, gaslighting, and retaliatory conduct."

"Verdi used his position of authority to engage in emotionally abusive conduct, retaliation, and psychological manipulation that transcended poor coaching and entered into constitutional violations," one lawsuits reads. "The program was defined by fear and emotional volatility as players were routinely demeaned, psychologically isolated, and pressured to perform under abusive conditions."

Spokespersons for Pitt's athletic department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

The lawsuits were filed by Favor Ayodele, Raeven Boswell, Makayla Elmore, Brooklynn Miles, Isabella Perkins and Jasmine Timmerson. Their suits also claim that Pitt knew about the players' complaints about Verdi, but took no action.

Concerns, according to the lawsuits, were raised with Senior Woman Administrator Jennifer Tuscano, former athletic director Heather Lyke, and Laurel Gift — Pitt's Assistant Vice Chancellor for Compliance, Investigations, and Ethics. Lyke is now the Special Advisor to the Chancellor and Athletic Director at Syracuse.

Often the first specific incident cited in the lawsuits is one that allegedly occurred after a practice during the 2023-24 season when Verdi told the team, "Every night I lay in bed I want to kill myself because of you." The former players say this "caused fear, emotional distress, and confusion among players."

Four of the six lawsuits cite another incident where, before playing a game against Clemson, Verdi allegedly "directed xenophobic and culturally insensitive remarks" toward a foreign-born player, telling her to "go back home because ICE is coming." One lawsuit claims that Verdi told foreign-born players, "We speak English here," when they would use their native languages or accents.

In her lawsuit, Perkins alleges that Verdi once told her during the summer of 2024 in a private meeting, "I don't like you as a player, but I'd let my son date you."

Perkins also says that she was "routinely denied adequate medical care" and forced to play while injured. Perkins said she confided in the team doctor about the "hostile and abusive environment perpetuated by Coach Verdi." That disclosure was reported to Verdi, Perkins alleges, and it was met with retaliation. Perkins adds that her request for a medical redshirt was denied because Pitt mishandled her submission to the ACC.

Two lawsuits make the allegation that Verdi berated the team after the death of one player's father, allegedly telling them, "I knew you guys were bad basketball players, but I didn't know you were bad people too."

Four of the six players also claim that Verdi mocked one player's appearance and weight, telling her "you look pregnant," while she was recovering from injury. The six players also claim that Verdi "intentionally created and exploited racial division" and that "players of color were subjected to harsher discipline, less patience, and fewer opportunities than similarly situated white teammates."

One former player, Elmore, says she "made a good-faith report" to Pitt's compliance office regarding repeated NCAA practice-hour violations by Verdi. Elmore claims that the compliance office disclosed her identity to Verdi and nothing was done.

Another former player, Ayodele, says that when she was injured, Verdi didn't speak to her for nearly six months and ignored "her medical and emotional needs and isolating her from team support."

Some of the former players say they have had to seek mental health treatment and therapy after playing for Verdi. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and a declaration that Pitt violated Title IX.

Verdi is in his third season coaching thePanthers, who currently have an overall record of 8-17, a mark that includes a loss to Division III Scranton. He has a record of 29-60 while leading Pitt. The Panthers have not posted a winning record in ACC play since the 2014-15 season, which is also the last time they made the NCAA tournament.

Previously, Verdi was the head coach at UMass and Eastern Michigan, where he won a combined 200 games. Verdi signed a six-year contract with Pitt when he was hired in 2023.

Riding an eight-game losing streak, Pitt is scheduled to play again on Thursday night at home against Syracuse.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Pitt women's basketball coach accused of abuse in lawsuits by players