Friends Remember A Vibrant University Student Killed During Protest In Tehran
Zahra Bahlolipour, a 23-year-old student in Tehran, was fatally shot by security forces during a protest against Iran's authoritarian regime on January 8. Her university classmates have been posting tributes to a beloved friend known as Raha. Bahlolipour is among more than 5,000 victims reported killed in the state crackdown on the protest movement, but the full scale of the violence has yet to come to light.
Netblocks, a digital rights watchdog and connectivity monitoring organization, says that Iran's Internet blackout is continuing, despite a "brief momentary restoration."
Earlier on January 24, a state-affiliated Iranian news agency said that the country's Internet would be "fully restored" by tonight.
As of January 24, Iran’s near-total nationwide digital blackout -- ongoing since January 8 -- is one of the longest in recent history. Only Sudan’s complete shutdown following its October 2021 coup, which lasted about 25 days, is currently known to have lasted longer.
Teachers Council Publishes List Of Dozens Of Schoolchildren Killed In Crackdown
The Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Trade Associations, an umbrella body of independent teachers’ unions in Iran, has published the names of at least 29 schoolchildren in a list of students its says were killed in the recent crackdown on protests.
The council says it published the names and images of these children on January 24 based on reports from trusted networks and reliable sources, and that the list will be updated gradually.
Previously, some human rights sources, including the US-based HRANA group, said they have managed to confirm the deaths of more than 5,000 people -- including at least 54 children (under the age of 18) -- and that they are still investigating the deaths of nearly 13,000 others.
The US State Department's Persian-language account on X shared a video this morning of President Donald Trump talking to reporters.
When asked if he thought Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini should step down or go into exile, he said 'I don't want to get into that."
"But they know what we're looking for," he added. "There's a lot of killing going on."
He also warned the Islamic republic against seeking to set up other advanced nuclear facilities like those targeted by US strikes in Operation Midnight Hammer in June.
Footage Emerges Of Protests In Ahvaz
A video dated January 8 has emerged on a Telegram channel that has been sharing footage of the protests in Iran.
It shows security forces firing tear gas toward large crowds of demonstrators at the Fatima Zahra mosque in the Kouy-e Bahonar neighborhood of the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran -- a location that has been geoconfirmed by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda. Gunfire can be heard in the background.
The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified. The person who recorded it said the protesters were attempting to set fire to a base operated by the pro-regime Basij militia.
The US-based human rights organization HRANA has issued an update regarding the situation in Iran. According to its sources, the casualty toll from the recent protests has now risen to 5,137 confirmed deaths with more that 7,400 "severely injured." It also says that the number of deaths still under investigation is 12,904.
International Internet To Be Fully Restored Tonight, Says Iranian News Agency
The Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported on January 23 that international Internet access would be “fully restored in all provinces of the country” by tonight.
Iran as a whole is now in the third week of a complete Internet shutdown and has been cut off from the outside world.
According to an update published on January 23 by NetBlocks, which tracks Internet outages and censorship worldwide, more “VPN tunnels” from inside Iran to abroad had been established since Friday morning , but Internet speeds remain very low.
We are now closing the live blog for today. We'll be back again tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. Central European time to follow the latest developments in Iran.
Video Emerges Of Bodies In Rasht After Crackdown By Iranian Security Forces
Images of bodies in the northern Iranian city of Rasht have emerged on social media following reports of a massacre by security forces during protests earlier this month. An exiled Iranian human rights attorney who spoke to witnesses inside Iran told RFE/RL that security forces fired at people trapped inside a bazaar. He also said Iranian lawyers were being rounded up as part of a wave of mass arrests and disappearances. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to the human rights group, HRANA.
UN Fact-Finding Mission Leader Says Iran Death Toll 'Shocking'
Sara Hossain, head of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, said on January 23 that Iranian security forces have used "assault weapons and heavy machine guns" against protesters since the evening of January 8, leaving a "shocking" death toll.
Speaking online and remotely to an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council, Hossain said the information gathered by the mission indicated serious human rights violations, "including the disproportionate use of force that has resulted in arbitrary killings and injuries, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, and forced confessions."
Referring to statements by Iranian officials, the Bangladeshi lawyer recalled that the Islamic republic's judiciary had called for detainees to be punished "as soon as possible and without leniency" and had threatened to prosecute "rioters" on charges of "enmity against God," which carries the death penalty.
"International law demands an end to gross human rights violations, protection for those at risk, and a real path to truth, justice and accountability for women, men and children in Iran," said Hossain.