As Iran remains in a near-total communications blackout, three people in different cities described what they said were the biggest protests since 1979—followed by a crackdown so severe it left many seething with anger and hollowed out by anguish.
Iranian-American activists are calling on US authorities to deport relatives of senior Iranian officials who are living in the United States, according to a report published by the New York Post on Wednesday.
Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi on Thursday outlined his vision for how Iran could reposition itself at home and abroad after five decades of isolation and confrontation with the world if the Islamic Republic were toppled.
Turkey has adopted a calculated caution during the recent waves of protests in neighboring Iran, avoiding endorsement of those who took to the streets while stopping short of backing Tehran’s violent crackdown.
A review of public statements by Iran’s senior officials since late December suggests a marked hardening of tone as protests escalated, a shift that coincided with a sharp intensification of the state’s security response.
State media in Iran have widely circulated images of damaged mosques and burned Qurans inside, blaming protesters they brand “terrorists” and portraying its deadly crackdown on a protest uprising as a sacred defense of holy places.
Several foreign influencers supportive of the Islamic Republic have published content portraying life in Tehran as calm despite an escalating deadly crackdown on protests across the country amid an internet blackout.
After Iran’s deadliest protest crackdown in decades, authorities have extended their response beyond the streets into morgues, hospitals and family homes, turning the protesters’ bodies into a key tool for suppressing dissent and controlling the narrative.
Any US military action against Iran risks falling short if it mirrors past “one-off” strikes without sustained political and economic pressure, analysts warned during an Iran International Insight town hall on Wednesday amid mounting fears of a US attack.
Uncertainty over Iran’s direction deepened on Wednesday as unrest at home coincided with mixed signals across the region, with military movements and diplomatic steps raising the risk of a broader conflict.
Israel’s apparent inaction amid Iran’s widespread unrest may look counterintuitive, but it reflects a long-standing strategic calculation rather than hesitation.
European airlines avoided Iranian and Iraqi airspace on Thursday, Reuters reported citing flight-tracking data, despite Iran reopening its skies after a brief closure a day earlier amid fears of possible US military action.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Washington is tracking what he described as a surge of capital flight by Iran’s ruling elite, as fears grow over the possible collapse of the Islamic Republic amid unrest and threats of a US strike.
Iran’s judiciary said on Thursday that Erfan Soltani, a protester detained earlier this month, has not been sentenced to death, rejecting earlier claims by his family that such a ruling had been issued.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8 and 9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, according to senior government and security sources speaking to Iran International.
As much of the world celebrated the start of a new year, night fell hard on three Western towns where the final hours of 2025 and the dawn of 2026 were marked not by celebration, but deadly gunfire.
A 25 percent tariff on US imports from any country that trades with Iran appears aimed at punishing third countries, but it is likely to hit Tehran far harder.
Iranian authorities are moving quickly to launch a new project designed to make it possible to cut the country off from the global internet completely and for extended periods, according to information obtained by Iran International.
Visiting lecturer, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA)
Iran International
Institute for National Security Studies
Iran International
International Security and Law Analyst
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
There is a cruel ritual in Iranian opposition politics: some voices abroad constantly interrogate the “purity” of activists inside—why they did not speak more sharply or endorse maximalist slogans, why survival itself looks insufficiently heroic.
The Iran projected on social media these days—brunch parties, rooftop concerts, fashion shows—is real, but only as a tiny fragment of the country’s reality, where most ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.
