{"id":346004,"date":"2026-06-23T06:43:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=346004"},"modified":"2026-06-23T06:43:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:43:57","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-june-23-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-news\/iran-news-in-brief-june-23-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 June 23, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Global
Global leaders and lawmakers join Mrs. Maryam Rajavi for a group photo on the sidelines of the Free Iran 2026 World Summit in Paris, June 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

UPDATE: 7:30 AM CEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keith Kellogg Tells Iranian Dissidents The ‘Window Is Open’ To Force Regime Change in Tehran<\/h3>\n

\"Fox-News\"<\/p>\n

As the\u00a0Trump administration pushes forward<\/a>\u00a0with a new Iran deal, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told a Paris gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran \u2014 an exiled Iranian opposition coalition aligned with the People\u2019s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) \u2014 that Tehran\u2019s rulers are weaker than they have been in decades and urged dissidents to seize what he described as a historic opening.<\/p>\n

“The window is open wider than at any moment in a generation, and windows do not stay open forever,” Kellogg said at the two-day event. “The theocratic regime in Tehran will not leave voluntarily. You must force it. The hope is here. Now must come the action.”<\/p>\n

Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, framed any disarmament agreement not as an endpoint, but as “the first step of something far larger,” saying it should become the foundation for Iran\u2019s future without the current regime.<\/p>\n

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

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Iranian Students Protest Imposed Academic Mandates Across Multiple Cities<\/h3>\n

\"iranian<\/p>\n

Iranian students protest entered a new phase on Monday, June 22, 2026, as various cities across captive Iran witnessed rallies by high schoolers and university students. Brave schoolgirls and youth took to the streets to demonstrate against the clerical regime\u2019s anti-cultural, discriminatory policies and abrupt academic decisions. Concurrently, employees of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences held demonstrations to protest their dire livelihood conditions.<\/p>\n

A large group of Master\u2019s and Ph.D. students from Islamic Azad University\u2014with a remarkably prominent presence of female students\u2014staged a major rally outside the university\u2019s central headquarters in Tehran on June 22. They fiercely protested the regime\u2019s sudden and arbitrary decision to hold final exams in person.<\/p>\n

In response to the growing outrage, university officials were forced to make a temporary retreat, announcing a 20-day postponement of the exams. However, the core directive to hold the exams in person remains unrevoked. Rejecting these deceptive maneuvers, the protesting students emphasized that if the decree is not completely overturned, they will resume their protest rally outside the central headquarters tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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

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Iran\u2019s Regime Escalates Crackdown After January Protests as Thousands Face Prosecution, Property Seizures, and Death Sentences<\/h3>\n

\"arrests-Iran\"<\/p>\n

Iranian regime judicial authorities have disclosed new details about a sweeping crackdown on participants in the January 2026 nationwide protests, revealing that thousands of judicial cases have been opened across multiple provinces as the regime intensifies efforts to suppress dissent.<\/p>\n

Officials in Sistan and Baluchestan, Qazvin, Mazandaran, Zanjan, and West Azerbaijan provinces have collectively reported more than 2,500 legal proceedings related to the January protests, as well as cases connected to the recent conflict involving the United States, Israel, and the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

The disclosures provide a rare glimpse into the scale of the regime\u2019s ongoing repression campaign, which has included mass arrests, security prosecutions, allegations of espionage, property confiscations, and the increasing use of capital punishment.<\/p>\n

Mehdi Shamsabadi, the regime\u2019s prosecutor in Zahedan, announced that courts have already issued verdicts against 111 individuals arrested during the January protests.<\/p>\n

According to Shamsabadi, some of the sentences have already been carried out, while additional cases remain under judicial review. He also stated that indictments have been issued against individuals accused in cases linked to the recent military conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel.<\/p>\n

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

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Resistance Units Promote Democratic Republic and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s Ten-Point Plan in Tehran and Shiraz<\/h3>\n

\"MEK<\/p>\n

On June 21, 2026, PMOI Resistance Units in Tehran and Shiraz carried out a series of public activities promoting the principles of a democratic republic and expressing support for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi\u2019s Ten-Point Plan for Iran\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Through coordinated photo displays and public messaging campaigns, the activists emphasized key democratic values, including popular sovereignty, free elections, human rights, freedom of expression, gender equality, social justice, judicial independence, environmental protection, and the separation of religion and state.\u00a0The activities coincided with the Free Iran 2026 gathering and reflected growing support among resistance supporters for an alternative based on democracy and pluralism.<\/p>\n

In Shiraz, Resistance Units displayed a series of messages advocating democratic governance and individual liberties.<\/p>\n

One display declared:\u00a0\u201cNo to Velayat-e Faqih. Yes to the sovereignty of the people in a republic based on free and pluralistic elections.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Other messages emphasized freedom of expression, political parties, public assembly, independent media, and unrestricted access to cyberspace. The activists also called for the protection of individual and social rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while highlighting the importance of separating religion from the state and guaranteeing freedom of religion and belief.<\/p>\n

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

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Inflation in Iran and the Limits of What an Agreement with the United States Can Achieve<\/h3>\n

\"Inflation<\/p>\n

A sick political system inevitably produces a sick economy. In an absolute dictatorship where political and social freedoms are suppressed, independent institutions have been dismantled, the rule of law has been replaced by the will of those in power, and the country\u2019s resources are directed towards preserving political rule, the emergence of a healthy, transparent and development-oriented economy is virtually impossible. The profound crisis now engulfing Iran\u2019s economy is not merely the result of one mistaken decision, the incompetence of a particular administration, or a single period of sanctions. It is the direct product of a totalitarian structure that, for nearly five decades, has placed the preservation of its rule above freedom, public welfare and the country\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Within this structure, Iran\u2019s economy has not been managed according to the needs of society, free competition, productive investment and long-term planning. Instead, it has been shaped by the regime\u2019s political and security priorities. A substantial share of public resources, oil revenues, the state budget and the country\u2019s economic capacity has been diverted away from infrastructure, job creation, productivity, public services and higher living standards, and placed at the disposal of military and security institutions, regime-controlled foundations, and regional and weapons programmes. At the centre of this structure stand the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Office of the Supreme Leader and a vast network of unaccountable and opaque institutions that control a large part of the economy.<\/p>\n

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

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Iran: Minors Military Training \u2013 The \u201cCombatant Youths\u201d Scheme to Sustain the Ruling establishment<\/h3>\n

\"Iranian<\/p>\n

How does the Islamic Republic in Iran violate international conventions and the fundamental rights of children to preserve itself? Alarming reports of systematic violations of the rights of the child have re-emerged in a dangerous dimension. The issue of \u201cweapon training for teenagers in Dishmok\u201d (a town in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province) unveils a structural government program known as the\u00a0\u201cCombatant Youth\u201d\u00a0<\/em>scheme. In this initiative, children and teenagers under the age of 18 are subjected to intensive\u00a0military training<\/em>, including the handling of heavy combat weapons\u2014an action whose declared objective is\u00a0\u201cstrengthening the spirit of national defense,\u201d<\/em> but which practically constitutes a flagrant violation of treaties to which Iran is a signatory.<\/p>\n

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Field reports from Dishmok district demonstrate that this program is not merely an ideological or educational course, but a fully militarized platform where:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n