Freelancers across Iran lost foreign contracts and saw income dry up during January’s internet shutdown, digital workers told Iran International, as weeks offline cut their access to projects and payments in an economy already hit by global isolation.

Iran’s Fajr Film Festival went ahead this year as planned. But it did so in a country still reeling from bloodshed, and the red carpets beneath its guests carried a symbolic weight that many in the film community found difficult to ignore.

Iranians took to social media on the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution to challenge the Islamic Republic’s claims of overwhelming public support, sharing videos of anti-government chants and questioning the authenticity of state broadcasts.

Ali Heydari, a 20-year-old Iranian protester wounded and arrested during demonstrations in Mashhad on January 8, was shot in the head and killed in detention about a month later, a source close to his family told Iran International.

The night air on Jan. 8 in northeastern Tehran filled with chants rising in defiance. Among them stood Pooya Faragerdi, a violinist whose life was measured in music and a heart that beat for Iran. Then came the gunfire.
About a month ago, US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting and take over institutions, saying that “help is on the way.”
The European Parliament on Thursday condemned what it described as systematic repression by Iran’s authorities against protesters and civil society, warning that reported killings during recent unrest could amount to crimes against humanity.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes only direct engagement with US President Donald Trump can prevent a limited nuclear deal with Iran—and turn this moment into a decisive blow against the Islamic Republic.
Iran International has obtained information alleging that senior Iranian diplomats transported large amounts of cash to Beirut in recent months, using diplomatic passports to move funds to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The Canadian Senate held a hearing on Tuesday on a new immigration and border security bill with much of the discussion focusing on individuals allegedly linked to the Islamic Republic living freely in Canada.

I am writing this from Tehran after three days of trying to find a way to send it: things may get a lot worse before they get any better.

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.
