Month: February 2026

Dagens – Tensions are rising in the Middle East, as Iran continues to crack down on anti-government protests and the U.S. is sending military ships, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, to the region.

Donald Trump has warned the Iranian leadership to stop killing protesters, as 3,117 people have been killed so far, according to official numbers.

The US-based opposition group HRANA estimated the death toll at 6,842, however.

But Iran’s nuclear programme is another factor increasing tensions.

The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that satellite images from one of the destroyed sites show it is being rebuilt.

Iran claims that the nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes, but there are fears that the uranium being enriched is actually being used to develop nuclear weapons.

And now, Russia is offering to ease tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Offering to take the uranium

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia has for years offered to process or store Iran’s enriched uranium on its own territory, according to Reuters and EFE.

He said Moscow is ready to help remove enriched uranium currently kept in Iran in order to reduce what he described as “irritating factors” linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme, adding that the matter “has been on the agenda for some time.”

Diplomatic positioning

Peskov said Russia is maintaining contacts with all parties involved and remains prepared, where possible, to encourage a lowering of tensions around Iran.

The comments place Moscow as a potential intermediary as nuclear diplomacy remains stalled following earlier negotiations between the United States and Iran.

Those talks were disrupted after the outbreak of a war launched by Israel against Iran, which later involved the United States, including strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, according to the same reports.

The post Russia offers to take enriched uranium from Iran to reduce tensions appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

The Marietta Times – Iran said Monday that it had summoned all of the European Union’s ambassadors in the country to protest the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group.

The move came as Turkey tried to organize a meeting between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials, seeking to jump-start talks to ease the threat of U.S. military action against Iran, two Turkish officials said.

The American military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East. It remains unclear whether U.S. President Donald Trump will decide to use force, as regional countries have engaged in diplomacy.

“Trump is trying to calibrate a response to Iran’s mass killing of protesters that punishes Iranian leaders without also embroiling the United States in a new, open-ended conflict in the region,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said Monday.

EU sanctions

The 27-nation bloc agreed to list the Guard as a terror group last week over its part in the crackdown on nationwide protests in January that killed thousands of people and saw tens of thousands of others detained.

Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, have previously designated the Guard as a terrorist organization. While the move is largely symbolic, it does add to the economic pressure squeezing Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told journalists that the ambassadors had begun to be summoned on Sunday and that process went into Monday as well.

“We think that in coming days, a decision will be made about a reciprocal action,” Baghaei said.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker said Sunday that the Islamic Republic now considers all EU militaries to be terrorist groups, citing a 2019 law. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, said that it was keeping diplomatic channels open with Tehran, despite the tensions, and urged restraint from military action.

The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force meant to protect the Shiite cleric-overseen government and was later enshrined in its constitution. It operates in parallel with the country’s regular armed forces and has expanded into private enterprise, allowing it to thrive.

The Guard’s Basij force likely was key in putting down the demonstrations, starting in earnest from Jan. 8, when authorities cut off the internet and international telephone calls for the nation of 85 million people. Videos that have come out of Iran via Starlink satellite dishes and other means show men likely belonging to its forces shooting and beating protesters.

On Monday, the U.K. government joined a number of countries that sanctioned Iran’s interior minister, who oversees the country’s police, and nine other Iranians for their alleged role in facilitating the violent crackdown. The individuals were subjected to immediate asset freezes and travel bans.

Turkey’s role

In Turkey, officials have been trying to organize talks with Iran and Witkoff there, two Turkish officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief journalists. One described the goal as trying to have Witkoff meet the Iranians by the end of the week, if possible.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff met multiple times last year in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program in Rome and Oman, but never finalized a deal. On June 13, Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran that sparked a 12-day war between the countries, effectively halting those talks. The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites during the war.

Baghaei of the Iranian Foreign Ministry declined to give any specifics about the possibility of talks in Ankara. The U.S. didn’t immediately comment on the possible talks.

Axios first reported on the possible talks in Turkey. The Iranian mission to U.N. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Strait of Hormuz drill

Baghaei also said an exercise by the Guard in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, was “ongoing based on its timetable.”

Iran warned ships last week that a drill would be carried out on Sunday and Monday, but prior to Baghaei’s comments hadn’t acknowledged it taking place. The U.S. military’s Central Command issued a strong warning to Iran not to harass its warships and aircraft, or impede commercial vessels moving through the strait.

Satellite photos taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press showed small vessels moving at speed in the strait between Iran’s Qeshm and Hengam islands, some distance away from the corridor commercial vessels take. The Guard relies on a fleet of small, fast-attack ships in the strait.

Asked about whether Iran could face a war, Baghaei told the public “don’t worry at all.” He declined, however, to discuss whether Trump set a deadline for Iran to respond to Washington’s demands.

State television host

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Monday that prosecutors in Tehran filed charges against the head of state television’s Ofogh channel, as well as producers and the host of a program who mocked those killed in the crackdown.

The program, which aired Saturday, saw the host reference allegations made abroad about Iran hiding bodies of the dead in freezers to bring out as victims if the U.S. attacks the country.

The host asked viewers a multiple-choice question about where Iran would hide the bodies, listing things like ice cream freezers and supermarket refrigerators.

The crackdown on the demonstrations killed at least 6,848 people, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in other rounds of unrest in Iran. It fears even more may be dead. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll. An additional 49,930 people have been arrested, the Human Rights Activists News Agency said.

As of Jan. 21, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labeling the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest. However, the country’s presidency published a list of names Sunday it said belonged to 2,986 of those killed, something it hasn’t done in past protests.

The post Iran summons EU ambassadors: Plans to protest Revolutionary Guard being listed as a terror group appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

Financial Times – Iranians are in uproar after a programme on state television joked about the corpses of those killed in the recent demonstrations, highlighting seething rage towards the country’s rulers following its most violent episode in decades.

In the segment, which was aired on Sunday on the political satire show Khat-Khati, the presenter poses a mock multiple-choice question in response to speculation that the Islamic republic was hiding the bodies of the dead.

“Which kind of refrigerator do you think the Islamic republic is using to preserve the corpses?” the presenter says. “1. Side-by-side refrigerators 2. Ice cream makers 3. Supermarket freezers 4. ‘I am an ice vendor. Don’t ruin my business!’”

The viral video has sparked widespread outrage among the public and activists and drawn criticism from reformist and conservative media outlets alike, striking a nerve at a time of national grief.

Iranian officials have put the toll from the weeks-long demonstrations, which were suppressed in a brutal crackdown last month, at more than 3,000, blaming the unrest on armed agitators.

But human rights groups overseas have estimated it to be many times higher, with the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency saying more than 6,000 people have been confirmed killed, including 214 members of the security forces. It has said another 11,000 deaths were under investigation.

Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB said it dismissed the director of the TV channel that aired the show, Ofogh, and took the programme off air.

Tehran’s prosecutor on Monday also announced the channel’s director, host and producers would face legal action. Mohammad Hossein Mohebbi, the show’s host, offered an apology while claiming he was made the subject of a smear campaign with an out-of-context video clip.

The measures do not appear to have appeased critics, with growing calls for the dismissal of IRIB’s chief Peyman Jebelli. Reza Rashidpour, a well-known media personality and a former TV host, launched an online campaign on Monday for Jebelli’s dismissal.

Many Iranians accused the show of crossing a red line, with news agencies and activists denouncing the channel as “a hate-generating machine” run by a “bunch of narrow-minded, bigoted people lacking basic social literacy”.

“Every single one of those who are not with us today, whether their numbers exceed 3,000 by our account or 30,000 by the enemy’s account, are all our compatriots,” hardline newspaper Qods wrote on Monday. “Shame on anyone who calls themselves Iranian but remembers their deceased compatriots with buffoonery.”

IRIB, which is dominated by a radical hardline ideology, has in the past sparked public ire with insensitive and incendiary commentaries, and is criticised by many Iranians for serving as a propaganda arm of the regime.

The protests, which began in December over economic distress, spiralled into the most serious domestic challenge to the Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution, with many demonstrators calling to overthrow the regime before the unrest was suppressed.

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s office has begun publishing the names of those killed, inviting families to submit missing names with national identification numbers in an attempt to rebut higher casualty claims.

But the ensuing anger towards the regime has triggered a series of cultural and sporting boycotts in the country.

A number of prominent figures, such as film director Saeed Zamanian, scriptwriter Saleh Alavizadeh and musician Sohrab Pournazeri, have boycotted Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival, held annually to mark the anniversary of the revolution.

Pournazeri wrote on Instagram on Saturday that taking part in any festival would be “trampling the blood of our youth” and that he was standing alongside the “bereaved” Iranian people to “mourn the loss of our loved ones”.

Elnaz Shakerdoost, an actor, also announced late on Monday that she was quitting acting in protest at the recent killings. “My soul cannot bear the burden of this horrific historic tragedy,” she wrote on Instagram. “I will no longer take part in any celebration, nor will I ever play a role on this soil that reeks of blood.”

In recent days, two members of the national women’s football team, Zahra Alizadeh and Kowsar Kamali, as well as national basketball player Behnam Yakhchali and handball player Mohammadreza Oraei, have withdrawn from their national teams.

“At a time when every corner of my beloved country is in grief and despair, I feel I can no longer play like I used to,” Alizadeh wrote on her Instagram page. “Today, standing alongside my people matters to me more than anything else.”

The post Iran backlash after state media mocks dead protesters appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

CBC – A large crowd of demonstrators shut down a swath of the downtown core Sunday in solidarity with protesters in Iran, who are fighting against the country’s financial collapse and the regime that led to it.

Nationwide protests in Iran started Dec. 28 in response to soaring prices, then turned into wider anti-government protests against the clerical rulers who have governed the country for nearly 50 years.

At the same time, tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in a show of power, in response to protesters challenging the country’s theocracy.

Pooria Shafia, a Toronto-based engineer who attended Sunday’s protest, says he’s concerned about his relatives that still live in Iran.

“Every time I try to ask my cousin to see if he was able to contact them, I couldn’t bring myself to [do] it because I was just afraid of what the response would be,” he told CBC Toronto Sunday.

“You want to know how people are doing, but at the same time you’re always worried. What if the news that I hear is not something that I was prepared for?”

The protest in Toronto, which made its way from Sankofa Square to Queen’s Park, advocated in part for democratic elections in Iran.

“Well over 100,000 demonstrators” attended the protest on Sunday, Toronto police said in a statement to CBC Toronto. In a series of social media posts, the Toronto Police Service warned of delays and road closures during the afternoon demonstration in the area.

In an update on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, Toronto Police said there were 150,000 demonstrators and “zero incidents” at the protest on Sunday.

Demonstrators also voiced they would like to see action from the Canadian government, including putting in place measures that weaken the regime, deporting Islamic Republic officials in Canada and ensuring negotiations don’t take place between the theocracy and United Nations members.

Number of deaths in crackdown unconfirmed

Global Affairs Canada declined to comment on whether any measures will be enacted against Iran and instead referred CBC Toronto to previously published statements and a social media post in which they condemned the killings of protestors and commended the bravery of the Iranian people.

The European Union recently designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran’s armed forces, as a terrorist organization. Canada did the same in June 2024.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network inside Iran to verify its information, reports that more than 49,500 people have been detained in the crackdown.

It says the violence killed at least 6,713 people, the vast majority of them demonstrators. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll and arrest figures, given that authorities have cut off Iran’s internet from the rest of the world.

As of Jan. 21, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labelling the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

Canadians urged to protest

The diaspora is trying to be the voice of Iranian people, said Morvarid Sadinejad, who is also an engineer in Toronto and attended the downtown protest.

“There is a huge crime against humanity happening and we should not be closing our eyes on it,” she said. “We’re devastated. We are heartbroken. We are going through a collective trauma.”

While Sadinejad says she’s “furious” about what’s happening in Iran, some hope still remains.

“People are chanting, people are clapping, playing music. They are not sad. We don’t have time to mourn now. We will go back and mourn these lost lives, but right now … we are in a war with the regime,” she said.

Sadinejad says her ask for non-Iranian Canadians is for the focus to be on humanity, rather than ideology.

“We don’t want them to observe the protests, we want them to join the protests. We want them to be the voice of the voiceless,” she said. “Would they have been silent if it was their loved ones, their families, their friends?”

Shafia says he wants people of all backgrounds and religions to come together and “be the voice of the oppressed.”

“There has been unfortunately deafening silence coming from the people who have been talking about human rights, who have been talking about massacres, genocides that have happened around the world in the past,” he said. “But they’re awfully quiet when it comes to Iran.”

He added it’s been difficult to live life normally in Canada knowing all that’s going on back home.

“A lot of us here have our jobs, we are working as a part of the society,” he said. “But at the same time we know that something horrible, horrible, absolutely horrendous is happening inside Iran and it makes it really hard for us to function.”

The post Thousands rally in downtown Toronto in solidarity with Iranian protesters appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

CBS News – Iran’s supreme leader warned that any attack on the country by the United States would spark a “regional war” in the Middle East, following President Trump’s threats to intervene militarily in response to the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on recent nationwide protests.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments, made while speaking to a crowd at his compound in Tehran and as quoted by the Tasnim news agency, are the most direct threat he’s made so far since the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group arrived in international waters off Iran, in the Persian Gulf.

Mr. Trump has also mentioned his desire to curb Iran’s nuclear program in his recent remarks, but it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump will use force. He has repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate.

U.S. regional allies, including Turkey and Qatar, are hastily working to arrange a diplomatic offramp to avert U.S. military action in Iran. A potential meeting in Turkey this week is being planned, although a senior U.S. official tells CBS that it is unclear whether the U.S. will participate and who would attend the meeting with the Iranians.

He had said he wanted to continue negotiations last year before then deciding to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last June, supporting Israel’s 12-day war with the country. On Saturday, Mr. Trump declined to say whether he’d decided on what he wanted to do regarding Iran now.

In Tehran, Khamenei claimed that the U.S. is interested in the country’s oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. He said the Americans wanted to “seize this country, just as they controlled it before.”

“The Americans must be aware that if they wage a war this time, it will be a regional war,” he said.

The supreme leader added that: “We are not the instigators, we are not going to be unfair to anyone, we don’t plan to attack any country. But if anyone shows greed and wants to attack or harass, the Iranian nation will deal a heavy blow to them.”

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at the wedding of Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, and Erin Elmore, the director of art in embassies at the U.S. Department of State, at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Mr. Trump reacted to Khamenei’s comments, saying: “Of course he is going to say that.”

“We have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there, very close couple of days, and hopefully we’ll make a deal. We don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” Mr. Trump said.

Khamenei also hardened his position on the recent demonstrations after earlier acknowledging some protesters had had legitimate economic grievances. The demonstrations began Dec. 28, initially over the collapse of Iran’s rial currency. It soon grew into a direct challenge to Khamenei’s rule.

“The recent sedition was similar to a coup,” he said. “Of course, the coup was suppressed. Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centers involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked the police, government centers, (Revolutionary Guard) facilities, banks and mosques — and burned copies of the Quran. They targeted centers that run the country.”

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network of sources inside Iran to gather its information, says it has verified the deaths of 6,713 people, most of them demonstrators, and that the authorities have detained at least 49,500 people so far. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll and arrest figures, given that authorities have cut Iran’s internet off from the rest of the world. Other sources have told CBS News and other media that the actual death toll across the country is substantially higher.

As of Jan. 21, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labeling the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

Even this government figure exceeds the death toll reported from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

Iran has planned a live-fire military drill for Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The U.S. military’s Central Command, which is the Pentagon’s regional combatant command for the Middle East, has warned against threatening American warships or aircraft during the drill or disrupting commercial traffic.

The post U.S. regional allies push diplomatic offramp as Iran’s supreme leader warns of “regional war” in Middle East if U.S. attacks appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

CNN – An Iranian man who was detained in connection to anti-government protests and reportedly sentenced to death has been released on bail, according to a rights group and Iranian state media.

Erfan Soltani, 26, was arrested last month as demonstrations roiled the country, sparking a violent crackdown by authorities. He was detained on January 10 at his home in Fardis, a city about 25 miles west of Tehran, and charged with “assembly and collusion against the country’s internal security” as well as “propaganda activities” against the regime, according to the state broadcaster IRIB.

Following his arrest, the US State Department and one of Soltani’s relatives said Iranian authorities planned to execute Soltani, but Iran’s judiciary dismissed those reports as “fabricated news,” according to IRIB.

Soltani’s family later said his execution was postponed, and US President Donald Trump said he had received assurances “on good authority” that there was no plan for executions in Iran amid fears for Soltani’s fate. Trump has warned Iran against executing protesters, saying the US would “take strong action.”

On Saturday, Soltani was released on bail, according to Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization. Iranian state media outlet Press TV also confirmed Soltani’s release in a post on Telegram.

Soltani’s precarious fate became one of the most high profile cases internationally during the huge anti-government protests that convulsed Iran last month. Iran’s security forces responded with a brutal crackdown as well as a lengthy internet shutdown nationwide.

On January 19, CNN reported that Soltani was in good physical health and had been able to meet with his family, according to Hengaw and one of his relatives.

Soltani’s relative, identified as Somayeh, said Soltani is an “incredibly kind and warm-hearted young man” who has “always fought for the freedom of Iran” in an interview with CNN last month.

More than 6,400 protesters have been killed and over 1,000 arrested since the protests broke out last month, according to recent reports by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which added a further 11,280 deaths are under review. CNN cannot independently verify HRANA’s numbers.

Despite the internet shutdown, details of the brutal crackdown continued to emerge with witnesses, human rights activists and medical professionals telling CNN that security forces unleashed widespread violence against protesters.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has acknowledged that thousands of Iranians were killed during more than two weeks of unrest — but blamed some of the deaths on Trump, who he said “openly encouraged” the protesters by promising them US “military support.”

As the protests raged, Trump encouraged Iranians to keep up the demonstrations and “take over” the country’s institutions, assuring them that “help is on its way.” However, no military action came during the protests or subsequent crackdown.

Instead, Trump is now weighing a major strike on Iran after negotiations about limiting the nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production failed to make progress, people familiar with the matter told CNN. The US has also built up its military presence in the region.

In a post to Truth Social Wednesday, Trump demanded Iran come to the table to negotiate “a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS,” warning the next US attack on the country “will be far worse” than the one it carried out last summer against three of Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN on Sunday he is “confident that we can achieve a deal” with the US on Tehran’s weapons program. However, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, struck a defiant tone, warning a US attack would face a strong retaliation.

“The Americans should know that if they initiate a war, this time it will be a regional war,” he told a crowd at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini mosque Sunday.

Iran has one of the world’s highest execution rates and has previously put multiple protesters to death after periods of large-scale demonstrations and unrest.

The post Iranian protester Erfan Soltani released on bail following fears of execution, reports say appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – Iran’s supreme leader has warned that any attack by the United States would spark a “regional war” in the Middle East, further escalating tensions as US President Donald Trump threatens military action over the Iranian government’s crackdown on recent nationwide protests.

The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday are the most direct threat he has made so far and follow the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln and other American warships to the Arabian Sea, where they were sent by Mr Trump after Tehran’s deadly response to the anti-government protests.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate and has brought up Tehran’s nuclear program as an issue he wants to see resolved.

But Mr Khamenei referred to the nationwide protests as “a coup”, hardening the government’s position amid the reported detainment of tens of thousands of people since the start of the demonstrations.

Sedition charges in Iran can carry the death penalty, sparking renewed concerns about Tehran carrying out mass executions for those arrested — a red line for Mr Trump.

“Of course, the coup was suppressed,” Mr Khamenei said.

“Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centres involved in running the country and for this reason they attacked the police, government centres, [Revolutionary Guard] facilities, banks and mosques — and burned copies of the Koran. They targeted centres that run the country.”

Mr Khamenei warned that a US attack would trigger a broader conflict.

Asked about the Iranian leader’s warning, Mr Trump told reporters: “Of course he is going to say that.”

“Hopefully we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” he said.

EU lists Guard Corps as terrorist organisation

The demonstrations in Iran began as an expression of discontent at the high cost of living, but grew into a mass anti-government movement that the country’s leaders have described as “riots” stoked by the US and Israel.

As tensions heightened between Iran and the US, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was concerned about “miscalculations” but said he believed  MrTrump was “wise enough to make the correct decision”.

Mr Araghchi said Iran had lost trust in the US as a negotiating partner, adding that some countries in the region were acting as intermediaries to rebuild trust.

“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” he said in an interview with CNN.

Tehran has acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests, and on Sunday the presidency published a list of 2,986 names out of the 3,117 that authorities said were killed in the unrest.

Of the total, 131 are yet to be identified but their details will be released soon, it said in a statement.

Authorities say most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.

However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed 6,713 deaths, mostly of protesters.

The response prompted the European Union to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, and Iranian politicians retaliated on Sunday by slapping the same designation on European armies.

Members of parliament wore the green uniform of the IRGC in a display of solidarity at the legislative session, during which they chanted “Death to America”, “Death to Israel” and “Shame on you, Europe”, state television footage showed.

It remained unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

The step matched similar classifications enacted by the US, Canada and Australia.

US warships sent to Middle East

Mr Trump said that dialogue was taking place and said “we’ll see what happens”, but did not withdraw his earlier threats.

Mr Trump previously said he believed Iran would make a deal over its nuclear and missile programs rather than face military action.

Tehran, meanwhile, has said it is ready for nuclear talks if its missile and defence capabilities are not on the agenda.

The US Navy has six destroyers, one aircraft carrier and three littoral combat ​ships ⁠in the region.

Mr Trump has laid out two red lines for military action: the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in the crackdown.

He has increasingly begun discussing Iran’s nuclear program, over which the US negotiated with Tehran in multiple sessions before Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June.

The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites during the war.

Activity at two of the sites suggests Iran may be trying to obscure the view of satellites as it tries to salvage what remains there.

The post Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns US attack would start ‘regional war’ appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

Kompas – The wave of demonstrations in Iran has become the latest source of debate among international relations scholars. There are two questions that are often raised: first, how to interpret the situation, and whether the United States will intervene as it did in Venezuela.

Political and social instability is not a new phenomenon in Iran. Ameneh Mehvar (2023) from the independent conflict monitoring organization ACLED has well-documented data on anti-government demonstrations in Iran from 2016 to 2022. In various analyses, this wave of demonstrations is often interpreted as a purely domestic issue, whether it be governance failures, political repression, or elite conflicts.

The analysis is not entirely incorrect; however, it should be noted that Iran has been under strong external pressure, particularly from U.S. economic sanctions, which have exacerbated Iran’s economic crisis, narrowed the country’s fiscal space, and ultimately triggered social-political instability.

In addition, Iran’s budget profile also shows a trend of increase in the defense and security sector. Clément Therme (2024) writes that this drastic increase is driven by the need to ensure Iran’s security amid a turbulent regional situation, particularly due to military and intelligence activities by Israel. This increase has subsequently contributed to cuts in government subsidies for several sectors, including energy. Meanwhile, Iran’s domestic energy needs have not shown any decline.

The post Iran’s Instability and the Shadow of US Intervention appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

The Red & Black – Demonstrators gathered on Friday evening at the Arch to speak out against the Iranian government and call attention to its ongoing crackdown on protestors amid widespread unrest in Iran.

The demonstration aimed to raise awareness about the situation in Iran and amplify Iranian voices at UGA. Attendees carried Iranian flags and signs reading “Free Iran” and “Regime change for Iran,” handed out pamphlets and chanted slogans like “Save Iran, save the world.”

Estimates of the number of people killed in Iran have fluctuated. The U.S. based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), whose figures have been accurate in previous rounds of unrest, has estimated that over 6,000 people have been killed. The Iranian government has put the death toll far lower, at a little over 3,000. Iran’s government in the past has undercounted or not reported deaths from unrest.

A Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has warned that death tolls in Iran could exceed 25,000, according to the BBC.

These rising death tolls, arrests and widespread internet outage, which some claim is meant to stem the flow of information about the government crackdown, in Iran has led to unease within the Iranian community at UGA.

“I have family in Iran, and I’ve heard first-hand accounts of the brutal crackdown, and it’s been going on for almost 50 years,” Eva Safaie, a Persian-American graduate student at UGA, said, “A lot of my family fled when the revolution first happened, and it’s absolutely disgusting, and something needs to be done, and so many people are unaware of it.”

“The brutal crackdown by the Islamic regime in Iran was missed mostly in, I would say, leftist media,” Amin, a Ph.D. student at UGA said. “Many are just neglecting the fact that 40,000 people were killed during this protest … I can call it a revolution, not a protest now.”

Information on the number of people killed is still limited. But based on data from human rights organizations, over 6,000 people are said to have been killed in the protests and more than 17,000 recorded deaths under investigation, according to HRANA

Solmaz Es’haghloo, a Ph.D. candidate studying textile sciences, believes that the university could be doing more to support Iranian students during this time.

“Everyone is just under pressure,” Es’haghloo said. “They don’t feel fine right now, the graduate students or Iranian community here, and … we want [UGA] to be more empathetic or just understand the situation.”

The post Demonstrators at UGA call for a regime change in Iran appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.

BBC – Donald Trump has said Iran wants to make a deal rather than face US military action, despite Tehran’s insistence that its missile and defence systems will “never” be up for negotiation.

The post Iran wants to make deal rather than face military action, Trump says appeared first on Human Right Activists In Iran.