Iran largely restored internet access on Tuesday after 88 days of near-total isolation, NetBlocks said, while major social media platforms remained blocked and a court challenge cast uncertainty over the government's restoration order.
Iran may be moving beyond temporary internet blackouts toward something more durable: a Chinese-style system of digital control.
Rauf Derakhshani-Mehr, a 19-year-old university student killed during January protests in the southern city of Dezful, was buried at night under pressure from security forces after his family located his body in a morgue, according to information obtained by Iran International.
The Islamic Republic executed Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi, a detainee arrested during January protests in Isfahan province, after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence, the judiciary said on Monday.
The internet was once seen in Iran as a gateway to the outside world, but it is increasingly being reshaped into something narrower and more conditional: a privilege that can be restricted, filtered or priced at will.
Iran’s judiciary said several defendants in the high-profile Ekbatan case have been sentenced to death over charges linked to the killing of a Basij member during the country’s 2022 protests, despite courts acknowledging they could not determine who caused the fatal injury.
Iran executed political prisoner Mojtaba Kian on Sunday after convicting him on accusations tied to cooperation with Israel and the United States, bringing the number of people put to death on political and security-related charges since March 17 to at least 37.
The trial over the stabbing of Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati turned to the alleged money trail behind the attack, with prosecutors describing payments routed through a west London construction company and relatives of one defendant.
Alghadir hospital was already one of the clearest windows into Iran’s January massacre. Now, after a public campaign by Iran International, families and witnesses have come forward with more names tied to the same corridors, storage rooms and rear courtyard.
An Iranian political prisoner sentenced to death on charges of “espionage and collaboration with a hostile state (Israel)” is at imminent risk of execution after being transferred to solitary confinement, the Norway-based rights group Hengaw said on Wednesday.
Iran International’s documentary A Friendship: From Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison to San Diego, directed by Ardavan Roozbeh, has won a Silver Telly Award in the General Political & Commentary category for television productions.
Amnesty International said on Monday that executions worldwide rose to their highest recorded level in more than four decades in 2025, with the Islamic Republic responsible for the vast majority of the increase.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the creation of a special committee to end Iran’s internet blackout, but many Iranians doubt it can overcome resistance from powerful state institutions.
Security forces in Najafabad, a major city in Isfahan province in central Iran, implemented deliberate power outages on January 8 and 9 to facilitate a lethal crackdown on protesters.
Parham Mehrabi, 18, was killed by direct fire from security forces in Mashhad on January 8, 2026, while standing alongside his father, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International.
Alghadir hospital in east Tehran is one of the places where the January massacre could be seen in full: a five-body morgue overflowing, blood on the floors, and families searching through blankets and body covers for the people they loved.
Iran executed Ehsan Afrashteh on Wednesday on accusations of espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel, the judiciary’s Mizan News reported.
Iranian poet Peyman Farahavar remains at risk of execution after the country’s Supreme Court rejected his request for judicial review, a rights group said on Tuesday.
Some Iranians say security bodies blocked their internet or SIM cards over alleged online activity against the Islamic Republic, then demanded pro-government posts, written pledges and guarantors to restore access, according to messages sent to Iran International.
Eight women political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin Prison have been barred from meeting family members and lawyers following tighter security measures and pressure linked to collective protest activities inside the ward, according to information obtained by Iran International.
A prominent international academic organization focused on Iranian studies has urged the United Nations and the European Union to condemn US-Israeli attacks on universities and educational institutions in Iran during the March and April conflict.
Iran executed political prisoner Erfan Shakourzadeh after convicting him of cooperating with US intelligence and Israel’s Mossad, the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency reported on Monday, as rights groups warn of a sharp rise in executions tied to political charges.