THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 2:30 PM CET
Trump Designates Yemen’s Houthis as A ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday re-designated Yemen’s Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a “foreign terrorist organization”, the White House said.
The move will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Iran-aligned group in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against U.S. warships defending the critical maritime chokepoint.
Proponents of the move say it is overdue, though some experts say it could have implications for anyone seen as aiding the Houthis, including some aid organizations.
UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET
Iran’s “No to Executions Tuesdays” Campaign Marks First Anniversary
Prisoners across Iran held the 52nd week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign on January 21, 2025. The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign is a coordinated protest movement initiated by political prisoners across Iran to oppose the regime’s extensive use of the death penalty. Since it began in early 2024, the campaign has involved weekly hunger strikes and statements condemning executions, aiming to raise awareness and mobilize both national and international support against capital punishment in Iran. It has now expanded to 34 prisons across the country. On the eve of the first anniversary of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, the men’s ward of Adelabad Prison in Shiraz joined the initiative.
In their statement, the prisoners noted that the regime had executed more than 110 prisoners in the Persian calendar month of Dey (December 21–January 20). Since the beginning of the Persian calendar year 1403 (beginning in March 2024), the regime has hanged more than 950 prisoners. “These statistics reflect an unprecedented increase in the use of executions as a tool to suppress society,” the statement reads in part.
UPDATE: 9:00 AM CET
Regime Insider Warns About the Implications of Tehran’s Strategic Failure in The Region
The collapse of the strategic depth of the Iranian regime has shaken its resolve. All state-run media outlets are discussing various aspects. Everyone is trying to interpret this defeat in their own way.
On the one hand, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the regime’s officials are attempting to cheer for the regime’s increasing power to cover up their disastrous defeat. On the other hand, the strategic collapse is so palpable and evident within the regime that even its insiders are reflecting on Khamenei’s statements.
On January 12, in an interview with the state-run Didar News website, Mohammad Ali Jannatkhah, a regime strategist said: “This strategy, with its so-called approach of strategic depth and such nonsensical rhetoric, cannot survive. One could say it was a slap from history for not studying history well enough, repeating our past historical mistakes. In my opinion, the country is on the verge of a new entropy discharge, and this time, it’s truly unclear what the outcome of this entropy discharge will be.”
Criminal Clerics Meet Fitting End in Tehran
On Saturday 18 January, two of the Iranian regime’s most barbarous hanging judges were shot dead in their offices in Tehran. Senior clerics, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were killed by a member of the judiciary staff, armed with a handgun, who had access to the tight security of the Palace of Justice. A bodyguard of one of the judges was wounded in the attack. The gunman took his own life before security forces arrived. It was a fitting end to two of the most monstrous and bloodstained officials of a gruesome regime.
Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were Supreme Court judges, notorious for their role in torturing and executing political prisoners and systemic human rights abuses. Both were involved in the notorious massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners, an atrocity carried out based on a fatwa by Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
UANI Condemns WEF’s Invitation to Javad Zarif
On January 21, 2025, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) expressed strong disapproval of the World Economic Forum (WEF) hosting Javad Zarif, Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs. UANI’s CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued a statement highlighting the implications of providing a platform to a figure he described as a “chief propagandist” for the Iranian regime.
Ambassador Wallace criticized WEF for allowing Zarif to speak, citing his history of collaboration with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Wallace emphasized that Zarif has been instrumental in downplaying Iran’s human rights abuses and its support for terrorism.
Religious Persecution in Iran: Ten Bahaii Women Taken to Jail
At 6 a.m. on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, ten Bahaii women residing in Baharestan, Isfahan, were arrested and transferred to Dolatabad Prison in Isfahan.
The detainees include Nasrin Khademi Qahfarrokhi, Roya Azadkhosh, Sara Shakib, Boshra Motahar, Mojgan Pourshefi Ardestani, Maryam Khorsandi, Shourangiz Bahamin, Sanaz Rasteh, Firouzeh Rasti-nejad, and Azita Rezvanikhah.
Security forces raided their homes, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation before transferring them to prison to serve their sentences.
The arrests trace back to Sunday, April 25, 2021, when these individuals, alongside several other Bahaii women in Baharestan, were detained. After 23 days in custody, they were released on bail.
The Spread of Poverty in Iran
Poverty has become one of the biggest social challenges in Iran. Inefficient economic policies, chronic inflation, and unequal income growth are the main factors behind this crisis.
According to reports, the poverty rate in Iran has significantly increased in recent years, with more than one-third of the population now living below the poverty line.
One of the most important reasons for the spread of poverty is high inflation. In recent years, the prices of essential goods and services have increased at a much faster rate than people’s incomes.
Inflation in the housing sector, in particular, has put significant pressure on households. Many families can no longer afford to buy or even rent suitable housing.
Environmental Crisis, Air Pollution, and Mismanagement of Iran’s Resources
Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the Iranian regime, spoke at the National Clean Air Day Conference on January 20. He stated that this year the government had planned not to burn Mazut and had announced this decision, but they faced constraints. If mazut had not been burned, they would have had to cut off gas supplies to households.
Pezeshkian added that the government’s slogan is to uphold the law. Expressing displeasure over the non-implementation of laws, he stated that this issue is unpleasant for the government, even though the government itself has not implemented some laws. He noted that certain laws do not maintain a balance between resources and consumption.
Melbourne, Australia – January 20, 2025: MEK Supporters Protest Executions and Human Rights Violations in Iran
Melbourne, Australia – January 20, 2025: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held an exhibition protesting the Iranian regime’s ongoing crimes against the Iranian people while expressing solidarity with the ongoing Iranian Revolution. The event also condemned the regime’s use of death sentences against political prisoners, including those associated with the PMOI.
#Melbourne, #Australia – January 20, 2025: MEK Supporters Protest Executions and #HumanRightsViolations in #Iran #StopExecutionsInIran #NoToExecutionTuesdays #FreeIran2025 https://t.co/V96UU75OIR
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) January 22, 2025
The Iranian community in Melbourne voiced their support for a democratic republic in Iran, firmly rejecting all forms of dictatorship, including the mullahs’ regime and any potential return to the Shah’s rule.
Gothenburg, Sweden – January 21, 2025: Rally by MEK Supporters in Solidarity with ‘No to Executions Campaign’
The 18th week of the gathering in Gothenburg coincided with the first anniversary of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign in prisons across Iran. This week marked the 52nd consecutive Tuesday of strikes by political prisoners in 34 prisons across the country, commemorating their unified struggle against executions.