Month: January 2026

Human Rights Activists (HRA) is gravely alarmed by escalating violence against protesters across Iran amid the government’s blanket internet shutdown. Nationwide protests began on December 28, 2025, and as of the morning of January 13, 2026,  HRA has independently confirmed 1,850 protester deaths, including 9 children, and more than 16,700 arrests. An additional 770 deaths are under investigation. HRA maintains that these numbers are likely much higher, given ongoing internet and communication blockages. These rapidly escalating numbers are particularly concerning as Iran’s head of police has called for increased control over protests. 

Reports indicate the use of extreme and increasingly lethal tactics against protesters, including the deployment of military-grade firearms, pellet/shotgun-style weapons, and close-range shootings, violating the right to life under international law. 

The use of lethal force is never a lawful tool to disperse protesters or suppress dissent. Under international human rights standards, law enforcement must prioritize all non-violent means to control crowds or stop a threat, even if civil unrest turns violent. Any use of force by law enforcement must be strictly necessary and proportionate. 

All credible allegations of unlawful killings and other excessive or arbitrary use of force require prompt, independent, and effective investigation, and those responsible must be held accountable.

HRA is also deeply concerned by the intentional nationwide internet shutdown, imposed on the thirteenth day of protests, which facilitates impunity for the continued excessive use of force against protesters. The blackout obstructs the ability to organize peacefully, to access life-saving information and emergency services, the ability of families to locate loved ones, and the capacity to independently document and verify abuses. It also violates fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and peaceful assembly.

HRA calls on Iranian authorities to:

1. Immediately end the use of lethal force against protesters and bystanders, including the use of firearms, pellet weapons, and close-range shooting.
2. Issue clear public orders to all security and law enforcement units requiring compliance with international standards on the use of force, including protection of minors
3. Ensure safe access to medical care for the injured and cease harassment or targeting of medical personnel, volunteers, and first responders, and individuals seeking medical care as a result of protest-related injury.
4. Restore full internet access and cease all network disruptions or blackouts.

HRA calls on the international community to:

1. Publicly condemn the use of lethal force against protesters and the nationwide internet shutdown, and reaffirm that such actions violate Iran’s obligations under international human rights law.
2. Press Iranian authorities to immediately cease the unlawful use of force, restore full internet access, and ensure compliance with international standards governing law enforcement conduct, including the protection of children.
3. Support independent, impartial, and effective investigations into all credible allegations of unlawful killings, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, and other serious human rights violations, including through international mechanisms where domestic remedies are ineffective.
4. Take steps to support accountability efforts, consistent with international law, for individuals and entities responsible for grave human rights violations, to combat impunity and deter further abuses.
5. Strengthen international monitoring and reporting, including by relevant UN human rights mechanisms, to document violations arising from the protests and the internet blackout and to report publicly on developments.
6. Support the protection of civilians, including journalists, human rights defenders, medical personnel, volunteers, and first responders, and call for unhindered access to medical care for those injured during protests.

HRA will continue to document violations, verify identities, and incidents to the highest possible standard under current constraints, and will continue to share updates as information becomes verifiable.

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CNN – Robina Aminian, a 23-year-old studying at university in Tehran, had dreams of moving to Milan to pursue a career in fashion. Her Instagram account showed her proudly displaying various traditional Kurdish outfits.

On Thursday, she left the Tehran Shariati Technical University, where she was studying fashion design, to join an anti-regime rally that was gathering in the capital, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO).

“She was a strong girl, a courageous girl, and she was not someone you could control and make decisions for. She fought for things she knew were right and fought hard,” her uncle Nezar Minouei told CNN.

“She was thirsty for freedom, thirsty for women’s rights, her rights,” her uncle said. “Overall, she was a girl who was alive, who lived.”

At the protest, Aminian was killed by gunfire, according to Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization.

Despite a days-long internet blackout, CNN is learning details about some of the Iranians killed as security forces launch a violent crackdown on anti-government protests sweeping the country.

More than 500 protesters have been killed over the past 16 days during anti-government demonstrations, including nine children, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). CNN cannot independently verify these figures.

The latest death toll comes as several people inside Iran have told CNN that Iranian security forces are responding to dissent with violent force. Two people in Tehran, speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, said they saw security forces brandishing rifles on Friday and killing “many people.” Another eyewitness said she saw “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital.

Wave of unrest

Aminian’s family detailed the harrowing scenes they were confronted with when they went to collect her body, according to Minouei, having driven from their home in Kermanshah in western Iran to Tehran.

Her father said Aminian’s body was being kept with the bodies of numerous young people aged between 18 and 22 years old. “Almost all of them had been shot in the head and neck,” Minouei said.

Authorities initially refused to return the daughter’s body, the uncle said. When the family was finally able to retrieve her remains, they were forced to bury her with their own hands without a ceremony, he added.

“As a family, we are heartbroken, but our head is held up high because our girl was martyred on the road to freedom, on the road to a better life that she fought for,” Aminian’s uncle said.

Despite the risks, defiant protesters have continued to turn out in large numbers across the country. The demonstrations, triggered by crippling economic conditions, have spread to numerous cities across all of Iran’s 31 provinces.

Iranian protesters risk death on multiple fronts, whether being shot down by security forces in the streets, or being charged with “moharebeh” translated as “waging war against God,” for vandalizing property, the punishment for which includes execution.

In Kermanshah in western Iran, Ebrahim Yousifi, a father of three, was shot in the head during protests on Thursday, his cousin told CNN. Yousifi, a 42-year-old hospital worker, leaves behind two sons and a daughter, according to the cousin, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Since Thursday, communication with the family has been “completely cut,” the cousin said, as an internet blackout in Iran drags on, with experts warning it is unprecedented in its reach.

“Even our relatives in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have been unable to reach anyone in Iran to confirm whether his body has been returned. The authorities’ response in Kurdish regions has been considerably more severe than in many other parts of the country,” his cousin said.

Mehdi Zatparvar, a former champion bodybuilder and coach, was killed on Friday during protests in the city of Rasht in Gilan province in northwestern Iran, Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization, reported.

The 39-year-old athlete was a two-time World Classic Bodybuilding champion, according to the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation. Zatparvar held a master’s degree in sports physiology, and was widely regarded as an experienced coach in Gilan, Hengaw said.

Zatparvar wrote in his most recent Instagram post, “We only want our rights, the voice that has been stifled for forty years must be shouted out,” according to the pro-reform outlet IranWire. His Instagram account has now been taken down.

Rising death toll across the country

An internet blackout across the country extended into a fifth day Tuesday, but some details have been coming out, often through human rights groups with connections inside the country.

A number of victims from protests that shook the city of Azna in Iran’s western Lorestan province on January 1 are now also being identified.

Hairdresser and modeling enthusiast Shayan Asadollahi was killed by government forces on January 1, according to the pro-reform activist outlet IranWire. With more than 50,000 followers on Instagram, the 28-year-old would post hairstyling videos to his social media.

That day, 17-year-old Reza Moradi Abdolvand was also targeted by security forces in Azna and fell into a coma, according to IranWire. After a days-long hospital stay, the auto body repair apprentice passed away on Monday, January 5.

Ahmadreza Amani, 28, was training to become a lawyer and was an intern with the Yazd Bar Association, according to IranWire. Four days after the January 1 protest, the government buried his body and disclosed its location to his family afterwards, according to IranWire.

The dead also include an artist and sculptor from the eastern city of Mashhad, according to Hengaw.

Mehdi Salahshur, a married father of two, was killed when security forces fired on protesters with live ammunition, Hengaw said, citing a report it had received.

In addition to his own artwork, Salahshur was a sculpture instructor and owned a stone-carving workshop, according to Hengaw.

In a sign of just how far the protests have spread, protesters have also been reportedly killed on the island of Qeshm in the far south of the country near the strait of Hormuz.

One of them, Ako Mohammadi, was a 22-year-old Kurdish man originally from Salas Babajani in the country’s northwest. He was shot and killed by government forces while protesting in the city of Qeshm on the east of the island, according to Hengaw.

Citing “an informed source,” the human rights organization said Iranian authorities had demanded money in order to return his body.

CNN has been unable to independently verify these reports due to the ongoing communications blackout in Iran. CNN has sought comment from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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CBS News – Iranian authorities cut off phone service and internet access Thursday in the capital and in several parts of the country as mass protests and chanting against the government continue, with dozens of people killed in the demonstrations and thousands arrested. Multiple sources in Tehran told CBS News the internet was down in the capital.

The NetBlocks monitoring organization said Thursday evening local time in Iran that its live data showed Iran was “now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout; the incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment.”

Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran could not be connected, the Associated Press reported.

Security forces confronted protesters in several cities and towns, firing tear gas. One CBS News source in the capital said there were “huge crowds out across Tehran. Unprecedented,” and confirmed that the internet was down for most people in the city. He said some people, with more robust, more reliable business accounts could still get online. Not long after, that source became unreachable, suggesting the blackout had widened even further.

There were reports on social media, largely by anti-regime activists, that web service was also down or severely restricted in the cities of Esfahan, Lodegan, Abdanan, and parts of Shiraz.

The web outages came as Iranians began chanting out of their windows against the regime, following a call by exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former U.S.-backed shah, to make their voices heard at 8 p.m. local time (noon Eastern). Analysts and insiders told CBS News the scale of the response to Pahalvi’s call could determine whether the deadly, 12-day-old protests fizzle out as previous rounds of unrest have, or grow into a major challenge to the government, and provoke a possible wider crackdown.

“All of the huge crowds in my neighborhood are pro-Pahlavi and from several areas my sources report the same — pro-Pahlavi crowds are prevailing, undeniably,” the source in Tehran told CBS News, calling it “monarchists responding to Reza.”

So far, the unrest has left at least 42 people dead, including at least four members of the security services, and seen more than 2,260 others detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

President Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Thursday that his administration is monitoring the protests in Iran. He threatened to take severe action if authorities kill protesters.

“I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots — they have lots of riots — if they do it, we are going to hit them very hard,” Mr. Trump said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday at the White House, Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. stands by anybody in Iran engaged in peaceful protest. Asked if the U.S. would take part in any Israeli strikes on Iran, Vance called on Iran to have real negotiations with the U.S. over their nuclear program.

“I’ll let the president speak to what we’re going to do in the future,” Vance said.

NetBlocks said earlier that its “data show the loss of connectivity on #Iran internet backbone provider TCI in the restive city of Kermanshah as protests spread across the nation in their 12th day; the incident comes amid rising casualties with indications of disruptions in multiple regions.”

Iranian authorities regularly restrict or disable internet access when they expect significant protests or other potentially destabilizing events.

President Mahsoud Pezeshkian, seen as a reformer but subordinate to Iran’s longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, intimated ahead of his election in 2024 that he would free up the internet and make more websites accessible. It remains tightly restricted, however. Social media sites such as TikTok, Facebook and X are officially banned, as is access to U.S. and European news sites, including CBS News.

Many young, tech-savvy Iranians have become adept at getting around the restrictions, but it’s a cumbersome process, and when the regime slows down internet speeds at politically sensitive times, the whole system can become unusable.

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Associated Press – The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran spiked Tuesday to at least 2,003 people killed, activists said, and Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown.

The number of dead, as reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, dwarfs that in any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. These demonstrations, which began little over two weeks ago in anger over Iran’s ailing economy, soon targeted the theocracy, particularly 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Images obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press from demonstrations in Tehran show graffiti and chants calling for Khamenei’s death — something that could carry a death sentence.

Soon after the new death toll became public, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!”

He added: “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Trump did not give details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night, said he had continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The communication “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing,” Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.” He had no immediate reaction to Trump’s latest online comments.

Death toll spikes

The activist group said 1,850 of the dead were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated. Another nine children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. It said over 16,700 people had been detained.

With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The AP has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.

Skylar Thompson with the Human Rights Activists News Agency told the AP the new toll was shocking, particularly since it reached four times the death toll of the monthslong 2022 Mahsa Amini protests in just two weeks.

She warned this toll would still rise: “We’re horrified but we still think the number is conservative.”

Iranians’ calls gave a glimpse of life after being cut off from the outside world Thursday night.

Witnesses described a heavy security presence in central Tehran, burned-out government buildings, smashed ATMs and few passersby. Meanwhile, people remain concerned about what comes next, including the possibility of a U.S. attack.

“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave only his first name out of concern for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”

Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests remain on many people’s minds. “People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests,” he said.

Iranians reach out, but world can’t reach in

Several people in Tehran were able to call the AP on Tuesday and speak to a journalist. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said text messaging still was down and internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.

Anti-riot police officers, wearing helmets and body armor, carried batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers, according to the witnesses. Police stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, who carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces.

Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, witnesses said. Banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, they added.

However, shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of Iran’s rial currency, opened Tuesday. However, a witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.

The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

It also appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in homes, and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.

On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.

State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.

Khamenei, in a statement carried by state TV, praised the tens of thousands who took part in pro-government demonstrations nationwide on Monday.

“This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on traitorous mercenaries,” he said. “The Iranian nation is strong and powerful and aware of the enemy.”

State TV on Monday aired chants from the crowd, which appeared in the tens of thousands, of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.

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Deutsche Welle – Iran’s judiciary said it will fast-track trials in response to the ongoing wave of protests across large parts of the country.

“In order to deal swiftly, accurately and comprehensively with the cases of the rioters,” special judicial chambers will be staffed by “experienced judges” Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary, was quoted as ‌saying by state ⁠media.

“From now on, there will be no leniency for whoever helps the enemy against the Islamic Republic and the calm of the people,” Ejei said, while accusing Israel and the United States of fueling the protests.

More than 2,000 people have been detained in the first 10 days of protests that have spread rapidly across Iran after anger erupted in Tehran in late December.

The unrest followed a sharp drop in the national currency against major foreign currencies.

President urges restraint

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on an activist network inside Iran for its reporting and has been accurate during past unrest, said at least 36 people have been killed in the ongoing violence.

It said demonstrations have spread to 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured.

Meanwhile, Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has reportedly ordered security forces not to crack down on economic protests.

In a video released by Iran’s Mehr news agency, Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Pezeshkian ordered “no security measures” against protesters but added that forces must act against rioters.

“Those who carry firearms, knives and machetes and who attack police stations and military sites are rioters,” Ghaempanah said, adding that “we must distinguish protesters from rioters.”

Iran’s president is not the most senior figure in the Islamic Republic — that position belongs to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who over the weekend said “rioters must be put in their place.”

International pressure on Iran

The protests were triggered by turmoil in Iran’s foreign exchange market but have since grown to focus on broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting against the country’s clerical rulers.

Authorities have acknowledged the economic hardships highlighted by the demonstrators but accused networks linked to foreign powers of stoking the unrest.

President Pezeshkian had promised reforms to help stabilize the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power, but this has done little to quell the demonstrations.

Iran also remains under international pressure, with US President Donald Trump threatening last Friday to come to the aid of protesters if security forces fired on them.

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The Time – Violent protests in Iran over the country’s weakening economy have now stretched beyond ten days, killing dozens of people and intensifying pressure on the Islamic Republic as it confronts its most sustained unrest in three years.

Rights groups have reported at least 45 deaths. A doctor in the capital Tehran told TIME that the death toll was much higher. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the doctor said at least 217 protester deaths, “most by live ammunition,” had been recorded across six hospitals around the capital.

TIME has not been able to individually confirm these numbers.

Among the dead are eight children and at least two members of Iran’s security forces, according to rights groups. Thousands more have been detained as authorities move to suppress demonstrations that show little sign of fading.

The protests have spread to more than 348 locations across all 31 of Iran’s provinces since last week, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Wednesday. HRANA has also documented more than 2,250 arrests so far, underscoring the scale of the state’s response. Iranian officials have not released their own comprehensive casualty or arrest figures.

On Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a brief televised speech in Tehran that the government would “not back down” to the protests and accused “vandals” of seeking to “please” President Donald Trump. The country’s Supreme National Security Council also stated that “no leniency” would be shown to “saboteurs.”

A day earlier, the Iranian government cut internet access and telephone lines across the country after anti-government protests erupted in the capital.

Sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear program—combined with the lingering economic damage of a 12-day war last summer with Israel and the United States, during which U.S. forces struck key Iranian nuclear sites—have battered the country’s economy. The rial has collapsed to roughly 1.4 million to the dollar, fueling inflation that has pushed basic goods out of reach for many Iranians. Long-standing corruption and mismanagement have only deepened the crisis.

President Donald Trump said last week that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” adding: “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Iranian officials have responded with increasingly blunt warnings. On Wednesday, Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, said there would be “no leniency” for anyone he accused of aiding Iran’s enemies, explicitly framing the protests as part of a foreign-backed campaign. He accused Israel and the United States of using “hybrid methods” to destabilize the country, according to state media.

“The Islamic Republic considers the intensification of such rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation without a response,” said Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, Iran’s army chief, in remarks widely interpreted as a warning to Washington.

Khamenei reinforced that message over the weekend, declaring that “rioters must be put in their place”—language that analysts say effectively gives security forces license to escalate repression.

“The economic situation in Iran has been bad and has continued to get worse,” says Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group. The protests, he adds, reflect a “general, very deep malaise” that cuts across class and geography.

Whether Iran’s leadership can weather the current unrest remains uncertain. What is clear is that the protests have exposed deep fractures—and that the response from both Tehran and Washington could shape Iran’s trajectory for years to come.

“The Trump administration really is going after a regime change without calling it out,” he says. “And it’s playing a patient game, and is using all sorts of tools, including maximum pressure, which is mostly about economic sanctions, but occasionally it uses kinetic action.”

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PROTESTERS TAKE OVER THE STREETS

NO EASY WAY OUT FOR IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER

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The Guardian – At least three children are reported to have been killed and more than 40 minors arrested after eight days of the ongoing protests across Iran, as human rights groups accuse the regime’s security forces of “indiscriminate targeting of civilians”.

The nationwide uprising sparked by the collapse of the country’s currency and rising living costs has spread to at least 78 cities and 222 locations, with demonstrators calling for the end of the regime, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI).

The protests continued over the weekend despite a worsening crackdown by security forces after comments from the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who addressed protesters as “rioters”. So far, 990 people have been arrested and at least 20 killed, according to HRAI.

Among the minors reportedly killed was Mostafa Falahi, a 15-year-old from the city of Azna, in central Iran. The Oslo-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said Falahi had been killed when security forces opened fire on protesters on 1 January. The group also reported the death of another minor, 17-year-old Rasul Kadivarian, who was killed along with his 20-year-old brother, Reza, on 3 January when security forces fired directly on protesters in the city of Kermanshah.

A third child, a 17-year-old whose death was reported by state media in the city of Qom, in central Iran, has also been confirmed by human rights groups, who said their identity had yet to be verified.

Skylar Thompson, deputy director of HRAI, told the Guardian the group had documented the killings, as well as the arrests of at least 44 children.

“These numbers provide clear evidence that youth are present throughout the ongoing protests. The indiscriminate targeting of a civilian population must be widely condemned as a violation of international law, especially with the clear illustration of children present,” Thompson said.

During the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran in 2022 more than 500 people were reportedly killed, including at least 60 children, some as young as eight years old.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a witness from the district of Malekshahi, in Ilam, western Iran, said crowds over the weekend had been chanting anti-government slogans and demanding the release of protesters already detained.

A young woman with her hair out raises her hands as a sign of protest in front of graffiti that says in Farsi: “Woman, life, freedom”.
‘We never stopped protesting’: Iran’s youth take freedom fight underground
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“We then gathered in front of a government building. That was when the forces opened fire on us. It felt as if they were shooting at enemies or armed groups. I felt like I was in a war zone. I saw several people injured, and I believe some were killed on the spot. We tried to take the wounded to hospitals and prevent government forces from arresting injured protesters,” the witness said.

Human rights groups reported late Saturday and Sunday night that the security forces had raided and attacked the Khomeini hospital in the city of Ilam, western Iran, where injured protesters had been taken.

Awyar Shekhi from Hengaw, said: “State forces are firing directly at gatherings and protests without regard for whether those targeted are children or adults. The crackdowns are brutal: teargas and military-grade weapons are being used, and detainees are severely beaten before being transferred to undisclosed locations.”

Another witness from Qom said the security forces could see there were teenagers and children among the protesters, “but that didn’t stop them from firing pellets, teargas and gunfire. The whole situation is only getting more deadly.”

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Widening protests in Iran sparked by the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy are putting new pressure on its theocracy.

Tehran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw the United States bomb nuclear sites in Iran. Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions on the country over its atomic program, has put Iran’s rial currency into a free fall, now trading at some 1.4 million to $1.

Meanwhile, Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” — a coalition of countries and militant groups backed by Tehran — has been decimated in the years since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

A threat by U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters” the U.S. “will come to their rescue,” has taken on new meaning after American troops captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

“We’re watching it very closely,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One late Sunday. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Here’s what to know about the protests and the challenges facing Iran’s government.

How widespread the protests are

Demonstrations have reached over 220 locations in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported early Monday. The death toll had reached at least 20 killed, it added, with more than 990 arrests. The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

Understanding the scale of the protests has been difficult. Iranian state media has provided little information about the demonstrations. Online videos offer only brief, shaky glimpses of people in the streets or the sound of gunfire. Journalists in general in Iran also face limits on reporting such as requiring permission to travel around the country, as well as the threat of harassment or arrest by authorities.

But the protests do not appear to be stopping, even after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “rioters must be put in their place.”

Why the demonstrations started

The collapse of the rial has led to a widening economic crisis in Iran. Prices are up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table. The nation has been struggling with an annual inflation rate of some 40%.

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The New York Times – Protests fueled by deepening economic hardship have swept Iran for more than a week, as soaring inflation has driven frustrated traders and university students into the streets of major cities, including the capital, Tehran.

The demonstrations are the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody set off fierce anti-government protests, observers and human rights groups say. The current protests, however, have not reached the same scale or intensity as those that followed the death of Ms. Amini, who was detained for violating the country’s hijab rules.

But the protests are drawing scrutiny abroad. On Friday, President Trump said the United States would come to the aid of protesters in Iran if the government used lethal force against them. His comments came a day after reports from Iranian state media that at least one person had been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces. Iranian officials swiftly responded, saying they will act on any interference from the United States, including potentially targeting American bases and forces in the region.

On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the protesters’ grievances “valid” but accused external forces of trying to exploit them to destabilize the country.

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