{"id":341988,"date":"2026-01-29T07:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=341988"},"modified":"2026-01-29T16:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:22:23","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-january-29-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-news\/iran-news-in-brief-january-29-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 January 29, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rally of freedom-loving Iranians in support of Iran’s 2026 nationwide protests in Brussels\u2014 January 20, 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS<\/h3>\n

UPDATE: 04:00 PM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Third Option: The Strategic Significance of Organized Resistance<\/h3>\n

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As a scholar of conflict resolution who has studied regime transitions across regions and political systems, I have learned to distinguish between what is visible and what is viable. In Iran today, that distinction has become decisive. The future of any democratic transition will depend less on media-recognized personalities and more on whether opposition forces can sustain organization under repression. Outcomes will be shaped by networks that can coordinate, endure, and convert public courage into strategic capacity.<\/p>\n

Recent European diplomatic commentary increasingly describes the Islamic Republic as a system entering structural fragility, with some assessments comparing it to the Soviet Union between 1989 and 1991: strategically diminished, economically depleted, and ideologically exhausted. That assessment is difficult to dismiss. But the more consequential question is not whether the regime is weakening. It is what determines the outcome if weakening turns into rupture and collapse.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Starmer Under Pressure to Follow EU On IRGC Ban<\/h3>\n

\"The-Telegraph\"<\/p>\n

The European Union is to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, piling pressure on Britain to follow suit.\u00a0EU foreign ministers are meeting in\u00a0Brussels<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday and are expected to agree on placing the military group, which is loyal to the Iranian regime, on its list of terror groups.<\/p>\n

The move was made possible after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, swung behind the plans on Wednesday night. Iran had warned on Tuesday of \u201cdevastating consequences\u201d should the\u00a0EU<\/a>\u00a0follow through with a ban.<\/p>\n

Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI\u2019s leader, said: \u201cThe IRGC is the regime\u2019s central instrument of violence and repression, and the principal vehicle for the export of terrorism, fundamentalism, and regional warmongering. Its designation as a terrorist organisation is at least three decades overdue. More than four decades of appeasement and protracted debate are enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 12:30 PM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Union Is Late<\/h3>\n

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On the eve of the European Union Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday, January 29, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran,\u00a0stated that the people and Iranian Resistance, bearing the memory of countless martyrs, are anxiously awaiting the European Union\u2019s decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, with the unanimous consent of all member states and the alignment of other European countries with this decision.<\/p>\n

The IRGC is the regime\u2019s central instrument of violence and repression, and the principal vehicle for the export of terrorism, fundamentalism, and regional warmongering. Its designation as a terrorist organization is at least three decades overdue.
\nMore than four decades of appeasement and protracted debate are enough. The decision to designate the IRGC, an institution synonymous with ignorance and crime must no longer be delayed.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Iranian Resistance Backs EU Plan to Label Revolutionary Guards \u2018Terrorists\u2019<\/h3>\n

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The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has backed the European Union\u2019s move to put the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on the \u201cterrorist list\u201d after a deadly crackdown on mass protests.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels, the bloc\u2019s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: \u201cIf you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as a terrorist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahin Gobadi, a member of the NCRI\u2019s foreign affairs committee, told\u00a0Brussels Signal<\/em>\u00a0that the decision was long overdue. \u201cWe have been pushing for this for a long time. In our view, the decision is at least three decades late,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 08:00 AM CET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran Uprising: PMOI Identifies Over 1,000 Martyrs as France and Germany Move to Blacklist IRGC<\/h3>\n

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In a major development on the continuation of Iran\u2019s nationwide uprising, the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) published the names of hundreds of additional martyrs, bringing the confirmed identities of the victims of the regime\u2019s brutality to over 1,000. Simultaneously, diplomatic pressure on the regime is intensifying, with leaders in Germany and France signaling the imminent terrorist designation of the IRGC, acknowledging that the mullahs\u2019 grip on power is crumbling.<\/p>\n

Key developments from the uprising and the international front include:<\/p>\n