Month: February 2026

The New York Times – A second day of antigovernment protests erupted on university campuses in Iran’s two largest cities, according to student and human rights groups as well as videos, which were verified by The New York Times, despite a deadly state crackdown on unrest.

The protests took place on at least seven university campuses in Tehran, the capital, and in the northeastern city of Mashhad, according to accounts from student groups. They come as Iran’s clerical leaders struggle to manage uprisings at home and a looming risk of war with Washington.

They are also some of the first protests since security forces violently put down nationwide protests in January, killing thousands of people. Since then, the government has arrested around 40,000 people, according to several rights groups, and has seized the assets of people supportive of the protests, which called for an end to the rule of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Still, many Iranians have continued to signal their dissent with events commemorating slain protesters, signing petitions, and organizing sit-ins. But they had largely refrained from protesting again.
That changed on Saturday. As the first day of a new semester in Iran began, anti-government protests erupted at multiple universities, according to student groups and videos verified by The Times.

Students continued protesting on Sunday, wearing black to mourn those killed in earlier protests, according to accounts from student groups and videos verified by The Times from the Tehran University of Art and the Iran University of Science and Technology.

The government has not yet officially acknowledged the university protests, though state news media has reported on the tensions on university campuses.

Hossein Goldansaz, the deputy for social affairs at the University of Tehran, acknowledged the protests to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency.

“Radical slogans will only waste the students’ time, and students must be very careful that it does not lead to violence,” he was quoted as saying. “I told the students that if this happens, I will not support them under any circumstances.”

The protests come as many Iranians brace for the possibility of war with the United States, according to interviews with residents who say they are trying to stock up on canned goods or making plans to seek shelter in remote regions or flee the country.

Negotiations between Washington and Tehran to limit Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities have yet to yield a breakthrough.Regional officials have expressed concerns that war could be imminent The U.S. military has amassed dozens of warships, fighter planes and reconnaissance jets in the region in preparation for a possible conflict.

Talks between Iran and the United States, brokered by Omani diplomats, will resume in Switzerland on Thursday, Oman’s foreign minister said on social media. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “a solution is achievable,” but reiterated the government’s position that it would not give up its right to nuclear enrichment, as Washington demands.

“Students see the contradiction clearly: While the authorities project strength abroad and engage in brinkmanship with Washington, they are domestically weaker than at any point in recent years,” said Omid Memarian, a senior fellow at DAWN, a Washington-based human rights organization focused on the Middle East.

“The government cannot indefinitely invoke the possibility of war to justify silencing dissent,” he added.
It remains difficult to gauge the size of the current protests or whether they will spread further.

Last December, university students were among the first to join protests that began as strikes in several cities’ bazaars over Iran’s deepening economic crisis. The demonstrations quickly grew into a nationwide movement, demanding an end to Iran’s authoritarian rule.

According to Iran’s government, more than 3,000 people died in the crackdown on unrest it blamed on “terrorists” backed by Israel and the United States. Rights groups, like the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, say more than 7,000 people were killed.

By late Sunday, students said they planned to continue their protests for a third day, with students in the city of Isfahan vowing to join on Tuesday. “We neither forgive nor forget,” a student group said.

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HRANA- Published today, this comprehensive report examines developments during the first fifty days following the eruption of nationwide protests in Iran on December 28, 2025, providing a detailed account of the unfolding events and the state response from December 2025 through February 2026.

Compiled through a coordinated, multi team documentation effort across HRA’s news agency HRANA, Spreading Justice, the Pasdaran Documentation Project, and the Statistics Department, the roughly 1,350 page report preserves a structured record of the opening phase of Iran’s 2025–2026 nationwide protests and the state response.

The findings are derived from more than 143,330 HRANA reports drawn from confidential and open sources, collected, verified, and analyzed during the 50-day window.

Download the full report in PDF format.

Why this report, and why now?

Large scale protest cycles generate two parallel dynamics: an unprecedented volume of documentation and a coordinated effort by state authorities to restrict communications, shape narratives, and intimidate sources. In this environment, the central risk is not only undercounting violations, but losing the ability to verify identities, locations, dates, and patterns while evidence remains recoverable.

This report adopts a disciplined human rights methodology centered on documenting minimum verifiable cases rather than publishing maximal estimates. It presents findings that can be substantiated through corroborated evidence, even where the broader scale of violations likely exceeds what can be confirmed in real time. The publication is intended both as a public record and as an archival foundation for legal analysis and future accountability processes.

What the report contains

The report maps the first fifty days of protests by addressing core accountability questions:

1. How did protests evolve and spread geographically

2. How did state forces respond, and through what structures

3. What forms of harm occurred

4. How did blackout conditions affect the availability, quality, and verification of information

5. How was content authenticated and cross checked in an environment shaped by surveillance, source risk, and restricted access

6. How were risks from manipulated, fabricated, or AI generated content identified and mitigated within the verification process

7. How can documented patterns be legally characterized

8. How can records, especially identities of victims and detainees, be preserved without increasing risk

Sections analyze protest trends and geography, university mobilization, slogans, the structure and tools of repression, patterns of violations including killings, injuries, arrests, coerced confessions, pressure on families, and attacks on medical neutrality, as well as legal analysis, international responses, and how HRA documentation initiatives mobilized.

At the center of the report are two core pillars: the verified accounting of those killed, including children, and the documented accounting of detainees, including minors, students, and individuals subjected to group arrests.

Key Findings

Geographic scope

• Total protest locations: 682

• Unique cities: 203

• Unique provinces: 31

The geographic distribution demonstrates that both protest activity and state response were nationwide in scope.

Student mobilization

• University protests documented: 55

• Protesting universities: 36

Universities emerged as central civic spaces within the broader protest movement and the state response.

Fatalities: scale and composition

Across the first fifty days covered by this report, consolidated documentation records:

• Protesters killed: 6,488

• Children killed, counted separately and not included among protesters: 236

• Civilians killed, non-protester: 76

• Military and government forces killed: 207

• Total fatalities: 7,007

An additional 11,744 cases remain under review and are not included in confirmed totals. Separately, HRA documented eight civilian deaths resulting from clashes between civilians in public. The categorical separation is deliberate. Distinguishing protesters, children, non-protester civilians, and government or pro-government fatalities prevents analytical conflation and enables clearer legal and statistical interpretation. The figures reflect a minimum verifiable record compiled under conditions where comprehensive access is not possible.

Injuries

• Injured military and security forces: 4,884

• Injured civilians: 25,846

These figures contextualize the breadth of harm beyond confirmed fatalities and illustrate the overall magnitude of violence.

Arrests

• Total arrests: 53,777

• Children, teenagers, and school students arrested: 555

• University students arrested: 147

Arrest figures include both individually identified cases and verified group arrests, reflecting documentation realities in which names are often unavailable or unsafe to publish.

Forced confessions

• Documented forced confessions: 369

The report treats coerced confessions as a systematic instrument of intimidation and narrative control within a heavily surveilled and restricted media environment.

Summonses

• Documented summonses: 11,053

Summonses function as a parallel mechanism of legal pressure, extending state control beyond those formally detained.

The List of the Deceased: Methodology and Protection

Appendix A contains the list of the deceased. Publication decisions are governed by a protection centered framework that weighs the public interest in disclosure against the risk of retaliation for relatives, witnesses, and HRANA’s network.

Where names are published, they are paired, where possible, with core identifiers including age, location, and documentation anchors used in verification. Entries are also paired with sources. Where a third-party source is listed as the primary source, HRANA has independently verified the information through its reporting network.

Where publication would create unacceptable risk, cases are reflected in verified totals and preserved within secure documentation systems for accountability purposes.

The list is the product of a structured, cross-checked verification methodology designed to preserve an accurate public record without increasing danger to those inside the country.

Legal Assessment and Accountability Relevance

The report includes a preliminary legal assessment, framing documented patterns as potential violations of international human rights law and, where applicable thresholds are met, international criminal law.

Patterns of lethal force, mass arrests, coerced confessions, and related violations are analyzed against legal standards governing the right to life, due process, freedom of expression and assembly, and protections against torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

By grounding its legal analysis with verified names, dates, locations, and corroborated patterns, the report connects documentation to concrete pathways for accountability.

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – Iranian political activist Borna Kazerani says he was lashed, imprisoned and raped by authorities in his home country, sparking his move to Australia about two decades ago.

But even he has been shocked by the sheer brutality of the Islamic regime in its response to protests that first broke out in December.

In January, in the brief moments Iranians could access the internet during a communications blackout, Mr Kazerani’s phone lit up with confronting videos from his homeland — including the corpses of people slaughtered during street demonstrations.

The filmmaker said he identified three friends among the dead. Another three have been killed — he said those women’s bodies had not yet been found — and his grandfather also died, likely waiting for unrelated medical attention from help that never came.

Mr Kazerani does not know exactly what happened to his loved ones because he is unable to speak freely with his family or friends for fear their communications are monitored.

In the midst of this grief and trauma, Mr Kazerani said he feared for his life — even in Australia.

He has received abuse and threats from hardline supporters of both the current regime and the man considered by some as a future leader, exiled prince Reza Pahlavi.

Mr Kazerani has been critical of both sides in his campaign, instead wanting a fresh start for Iran.

“Choke on blood and die,” said part of one Instagram message translated from Farsi to English, seen by the ABC, in which the sender spoke in support of Mr Pahlavi.

Mr Kazerani shared another message containing a death threat, and one other in which an individual threatened sexual assault.

“I’ve stopped participating and going to the rallies or demonstrations because they know my face,” Mr Kazerani said.

Iranian Australians who spoke with the ABC said threats and intimidation were common when campaigning for change in Iran, highlighting the risks the diaspora takes in speaking out — even from Australia.

The Australian government and domestic spy agency ASIO have sounded the alarm on Iranian authorities’ interference in Australia in recent years, including intimidation of Iranian Australian activists and alleged attacks on Jewish community sites.

In response to the antisemitic attacks, Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi and declared the country’s security apparatus, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a terrorist organisation.

Iranian diaspora ‘very fearful’

Artist Shahrzad Orang creates digital artwork from her home in Sydney in solidarity with Iran’s political prisoners and protesters.

She shared with the ABC messages in which a person in Iran — who suggested they were connected with the regime — last year threatened her with execution.

“I’m going to make such a nightmare that you’ll want to kill yourself,” the message, translated from Farsi to English, also read.

A separate series of messages from another individual contained insults and sexual threats.

“This is what we are dealing with,” Ms Orang said.

Advocate Sarah Bolouri said the diaspora also feared for the safety of their loved ones abroad when speaking out.

“The Iranian diaspora is very fearful of speaking to the media, they’re very fearful when they’re going to protests, they’re very fearful even to post on social media, because the repercussions are for our family,” she said.

“The repercussions are also intimidation here. There’s surveillance that happens in Australia as well.”

A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the Australian government “does not tolerate surveillance, harassment, or threats towards any Australian citizens or individuals lawfully in Australia.”

But, Ms Bolouri said, staying silent was no longer an option.

“We’ve got nothing to lose,” she said.

Moving to hopes and dreams

December protests centred on Iran’s cost of living crisis soon snowballed into nationwide street demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule.

The country has been an Islamic theocracy overseen by a powerful Supreme Leader since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1979.

US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has estimated more than 7,000 people have been killed by the regime in response to the protests — including 226 children — and more than 53,000 people arrested.

The death toll is likely higher; a group of doctors in Iran has reported that the death toll could exceed 30,000, though this has not been verified.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has described the Iranian regime’s actions as a “massacre” and “the deadliest period of repression by the Iranian authorities in decades of Amnesty’s research”.

“The scale of bloodshed is beyond imagination,” Ms Orang told the ABC.

Internet blackouts and restrictions on the entry of human rights and media organisations have made it difficult to verify exactly what is happening on the ground.

However, the BBC, which has been allowed into the country on the proviso it does not broadcast its reporting on its Persian service, has reported the regime is charging grieving families large sums of money to collect the bodies of their loved ones for burial.

“This terrorist government and regime over the past 47 years did not even give a normal life to any one of its citizens,” Mr Kazerani said.

“We are kind of being [held] hostage in Iran, in our motherland.”

Extraordinary numbers of Iranians have taken to the streets across the world to call for change in recent weeks.

In Sydney, NSW Police estimate 25,000 people attended a rally on February 14. In Melbourne, Victoria Police said up to 4,000 people attended a similar event on the same day, and in Brisbane, another 5,500 people.

Ms Bolouri has campaigned for many years for change in Iran, and said she was hopeful this would be the final battleground, urging international support for protesters’ efforts.

She said she was supportive of Mr Pahlavi as a transitional leader, but that, ultimately, Iranians should have their say at the ballot box.

“We want that to stop. We want our people to have the freedom to make changes for themselves.”

In the meantime, Ms Orang, who said five of her friends had been killed in “just these past days”, urged the Australian government to grant visas to those currently in the country’s immigration system and awaiting answers.

“When ‘apostasy’ and ‘propaganda against the regime’ are treated as capital offences, these individuals are in real danger,” she said.

“Their families are threatened. They are separated from loved ones and simply waiting for visas so they can live a normal life.”

A Department of Home affairs spokesperson said the department was “closely monitoring the situation in Iran”.

“To be granted a visa, all applicants impacted by the situation in Iran must meet all legal requirements, including health, character and security criteria,” the spokesperson said.

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The New Region – The US State Department on Wednesday announced that it has revoked immigration privileges of 18 more Iranian officials and their families over alleged “serious violations of human rights” amid waning nationwide protests.

The move comes after the US revoked immigration privileges for families and associates of Iranian officials in response to the regime’s “brutal oppression” of protesters in January, following a crackdown on nationwide protests. It brings the total to 58 officials with revoked visas.

“This visa restriction policy will target individuals who are complicit, or believed to be complicit, in serious violations of human rights, particularly inhibiting the right of Iranians to free expression and peaceful assembly,” The US Department of State said in a statement.

 Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests since late last year, which have spread to the majority of provinces and increasingly become anti-government in nature, prompting a violent crackdown from Iranian authorities.

 The State Department added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on “18 Iranian regime officials and telecommunications industry leaders, as well as their immediate family members.”

 A total of 58 individuals have now been affected by the new restrictions so far, it said, adding that Washington will continue to use “all tools available” to expose and promote accountability for abuses by Iranian regime officials.

 In September, the US State Department imposed additional restrictions under its “maximum pressure” policy, barring Iran’s UN delegation from visiting luxury shops and limiting their travel to strictly necessary areas while in New York. The move was condemned by Tehran.

The announcement comes as Tehran and Washington engage in indirect talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that Iranian security forces have killed more than 7,000 protesters and injured over 11,000 since demonstrations began in late December.

Monitors have also warned that protesters arrested for their involvement in Iran’s ongoing nationwide protests have been subjected to ‘widespread’ sexual violence while in custody, resulting in severe psychological damage.

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WSOC-TV – Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal. But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever following 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites and military last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not initiate a war,” any U.S. aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionately.”

“In such circumstances, all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” Iravani said.

Earlier this week, Iran conducted a drill that involved live-fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

Tensions are also rising inside Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies honoring slain protesters 40 days after their killing by security forces. Some gatherings have seen anti-government chants despite threats from authorities.

Trump again threatens Iran

The movements of additional American warships and airplanes, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don’t guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran — but they bolster Trump’s ability to carry out one should he choose to do so.

He has so far held off on striking Iran after setting red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and mass executions, while reengaging in nuclear talks that were disrupted by the war in June.

Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official said top national security officials gathered Wednesday to discuss Iran, and were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March. The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver its written response.

“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday.

With the U.S. military presence in the region mounting, one senior regional government official said he has stressed to Iranian officials in private conversations that Trump has proven that his rhetoric should be taken at face value and that he’s serious about his threat to carry out a strike if Iran doesn’t offer adequate concessions.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate diplomatic conversations, said he has advised the Iranians to look to how Trump has dealt with other international issues and draw lessons on how it should move forward.

The official added that he’s made to case to the Trump administration it could draw concessions from Iran in the near-term if it focuses on nuclear issues and leaves the push on Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and support for proxy group for later.

The official also said that Trump ordering a limited strike aimed at pressuring Iran could backfire and lead to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei withdrawing Iran from the talks.

Growing international concern

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation’s citizens to immediately leave Iran as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff.

The German military said that it had moved “a mid-two digit number of non-mission critical personnel” out of a base in northern Iraq because of the current situation in the region and in line with its partners’ actions. It said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces.

“This week, another 50 U.S. combat aircraft — F-35s, F-22s, and F-16s — were ordered to the region, supplementing the hundreds deployed to bases in the Arab Gulf states,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank wrote. “The deployments reinforce Trump’s threat — restated on a nearly daily basis — to proceed with a major air and missile campaign on the regime if talks fail.”

Iran holds drill with Russia

Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted the annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Footage released by Iran showed members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s naval special forces board a vessel in the exercise. Those forces are believed to have been used in the past to seize vessels in key international waterways.

Iran also issued a rocket-fire warning to pilots in the region, suggesting it planned to launch anti-ship missiles in the exercise.

Meanwhile, tracking data showed the Ford off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean midday Wednesday, meaning the carrier could transit through Gibraltar and potentially station in the eastern Mediterranean with its supporting guided-missile destroyers.

It would likely take more than a week for the Ford to be off the coast of Iran.

Netanyahu warns Iran

Israel is making its own preparations for possible Iranian missile strikes in response to any U.S. action.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”

Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, has long pushed for tougher U.S. action against Iran and says any deal should not only end its nuclear program but curb its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has said the current talks should only focus on its nuclear program, and that it hasn’t been enriching uranium since the U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. The U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has neither confirmed nor denied that.

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Radio New Zealand – A facewall of those killed in anti-government protests is the first confirmed reporting of the victims of the crackdown inside a heavily censored Iran. Iranians this week began commemorating the end of a traditional 40-day mourning period for the thousands killed during protests. Authorities have reportedly moved quickly to quash demonstrations to mark the occasion and the resurgence of anti-government sentiment.

But as global pressure grows and tens of thousands of people take to the streets in protest in Munich, Toronto and beyond, little is known about what is actually happening inside Iran. At the height of domestic protests, the Iranian government shut down the internet and phone lines, that along with a continued crackdown on social media makes establishing facts very difficult. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says more than 7-thousand people have been killed in the past month and a half, while the Iranian government puts the death toll at more than 3-thousand.

One reporting team working to get details out is the BBC’s Persia service, they’ve identified 2-hundred of the victims and are working on a face wall of those confirmed dead. Roja Assadi, is the assistant editor of the BBC News Persian Forensic Team. She told me the protests have settled down a little but haven’t stopped completely.

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The Record (North Jersey) – Tensions between the United States and Iran have caused an increase in oil prices across the country and in New Jersey, according to experts.

Over the past few weeks, oil prices increased to highs not seen since last July because of the ongoing conflict, said Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson at AAA Northeast.

In Bergen and Passaic counties, the average price for gasoline is $2.90, an increase from a month ago, when it was $2.76, according to AAA data.

West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, a crude oil, has been set at $65.19 a barrel. This is an increase from about $55 late last year, said Daniela Hathorn, a senior market analyst for Capital.com.

A main concern for the international conflict’s impact on oil prices is Iran’s ability to block cargo in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20% of the world’s oil and gas goes through, said Schieldrop and Hathorn.

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ABC7 Los Angeles – Thousands of people gathered for a “Global Day of Action” protest in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday in support of the Iranian people’s fight for freedom and human rights.

Protesters called for the Iranian government to stop the arrest and killing of protesters, something that’s been happening since late December. For many in Southern California, what’s happening in Iran feels incredibly close to home.

Los Angeles is home to one of the largest Iranian communities outside of Iran, and many demonstrators said they’re protesting not just for political change, but for friends and family members and friends who are living through a crackdown they describe as brutal.

“The oppression is so bad. There’s so many people in jail. There’s so many people in the morgues,” said protester Cherry Lane.

Activists are calling for an end to the killings and imprisonment of protesters since demonstrations erupted in December, and an end to the country’s theocratic rule. They are also calling for U.S. intervention.

President Donald Trump has hinted at a possible intervention in Iran, and he’s willing to meet with the country’s world leader, Ali Khamenei, if the Ayatollah agrees to it.

“Make Iran great again, meaning an Iran that’s based on freedom and not one that’s based on using Islam and religion to murder people,” said protester Brian Cox.

Massive posters were placed on the ground in Grand Park, including one that reads “Reza Pahlavi is our choice.” Pahlavi is the son of the deposed Shah from decades ago, who many Iranians want to see take over from the current Iranian regime, which has murdered tens of thousands of protesters since December.

“This has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with finance. It’s about human rights,” said Hessam Rahimain.

Another large poster featured Trump and read ‘We are locked and loaded. Help is on its way.”

Protesters began filling the streets of downtown L.A. near City Hall at 1 p.m. on Saturday. By 4 p.m., the crowd was still large, and the demonstration was peaceful.

“Today is a national day of action, as you’ve seen, all around the world… there’s been heaps of people coming out to protest against a regime that is, for all terms and purposes, for the people of Iran, illegitimate,” said protester Sara Seyed. “But the main thing, the most important thing we’re here to ask is, if I were to ask President Trump, Senator Rubio, Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Kushner, is ‘What do you stand to gain from negotiating with a regime that is, by all means, illegitimate? What is there to gain for the betterment of the Iranian people since they don’t have a representative at the table? What is there to gain for the United States peace and security and the world?’ This regime has, by all means, operated in its entirety as a terrorist state. It shoots and kills unarmed civilians who are protesting their basic rights.”

The massive protest in downtown L.A. also included support and praise of President Donald Trump as the U.S. continues to weigh how to respond to the crisis in Iran.

But with the death toll already in the thousands, some say they’re losing faith.

“We’re frustrated because we had President Trump’s promise. He said to my people that he will be there for my defenseless people,” Seyed continued. “We have reached the point where we need immediate and strategic help. No patriotic human being wants an all-out war. But there are so many strategies to completely annihilate the arteries and the lifelines of this regime that has invested in proxies and militias and destruction all around the world.”

Still, some protesters say they hope Saturday’s demonstrations were a loud enough outcry, hoping international pressure will build.

“And then all the people that I’ve been talking to that live there in Iran, they are so committed to freedom that they tell me, ‘Please, tell President Trump to attack. I don’t even care if I die,’” Cox said.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency says 7,000 people have been killed by the Iranian regime since December, but others have the count as high as 35,000. The true number is hard to verify because of internet blackouts and restrictions on journalists inside Iran.

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The Guardian – Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in rallies around the world to show their solidarity with anti-government demonstrators in Iran whose continued protests have been met with brutal and deadly repression.

On Saturday, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, addressed a crowd of 200,000 people in Munich, telling them he was ready to lead the country to a “secular democratic future”.

Pahlavi urged Iranians at home and abroad to continue demonstrating, calling on them to chant slogans from their homes and rooftops at 8pm (4.30pm UK time) on Saturday and Sunday to coincide with the protests in Germany and elsewhere.

Thousands more people took part in solidarity demonstrations in cities including Los Angeles, Washington, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Sydney and London.

Washington is preparing for a fresh round of talks with Iranian government representatives in Geneva this week despite Trump’s insistence that a change of power in Tehran would be the “best thing”.

Pahlavi – who is based in the US and who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy – told the crowd in Munich that he could lead a democratic handover.

“I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future,” he said. “I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box.”

One protester, a 62-year-old who is originally from Iran and gave his named only as Said, told Agence France-Presse (AFP): “The Iranian regime is a dead regime. It must be game over.”

Speaking on Friday as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure on Tehran, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen”.

Trump had earlier threatened military intervention to support a wave of protests in Iran that peaked in January and were met by a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

Although Trump had initially said the US was “locked and loaded” to help demonstrators when the government crackdown began, he has since focused his military threats on Tehran’s nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

Representatives of Iran and the US, which have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 revolution, held talks on the nuclear programme last week in Oman.

On Sunday, a Swiss foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP that Oman would host talks in Geneva next week.

ideos verified by AFP showed people in Iran this week chanting anti-government slogans despite the crackdown, as the clerical leadership celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists’ News Agency, at least 7,010 people, mostly protesters, were killed in the crackdown, though they and other rights groups say the toll is likely far higher. It said more than 53,845 people had been arrested.

The Iranian opposition remains divided and Pahlavi has faced criticism for his support for Israel and making a highly publicised visit in 2023 that fractured an attempt to unify opposition camps. He has also never distanced himself from his father’s autocratic rule.

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BBC – Hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations around the world against the Iranian government on Saturday, following calls from the exiled son of the late shah for a “global day of action”.

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