{"id":348931,"date":"2026-10-23T06:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348931"},"modified":"2026-10-23T06:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:25:28","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-october-23-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-october-23-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 October 23, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"On
On October 20, 2026, NCRI supporters in Gothenburg, Sweden, held a rally in solidarity with the 143rd\u00a0consecutive week of the \u201cNo to Execution Tuesdays\u201d campaign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

UPDATE: 7:00 AM CEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resistance Units Across Iran Rally Behind Maryam Rajavi\u2019s Vision for a Democratic Republic<\/h3>\n

\"MEK<\/p>\n

On October 20, 2026, PMOI\/MEK Resistance Units marked the upcoming 33rd anniversary of the introduction of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi as the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) with activities across Iran.<\/p>\n

The campaign featured 50 reported activities, including the display of posters and portraits, handwritten slogans, and messages calling for freedom, democracy, and popular sovereignty. The anniversary activities demonstrated the continued presence of organized resistance inside Iran despite the regime\u2019s security and surveillance apparatus.<\/p>\n

In Tehran, Resistance Units displayed colorful portraits of Maryam Rajavi alongside handwritten and printed messages. One slogan declared, \u201cThe mullahs must go; sovereignty belongs to the Iranian people.\u201d Another called for establishing a democratic republic based on Maryam Rajavi\u2019s Ten-Point Plan.<\/p>\n

In Eslamshahr, activists displayed handwritten messages demanding democracy and freedom while rejecting both the Shah\u2019s dictatorship and the clerical regime.<\/p>\n

In Mashhad, Resistance Units installed posters featuring Maryam Rajavi and wrote slogans on walls declaring that the movement for freedom would not stop. In Isfahan, activists displayed printed and handwritten leaflets proclaiming, \u201cA free Iran with Maryam Rajavi,\u201d and pledging to free Iran from the mullahs\u2019 rule.<\/p>\n

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

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Iran\u2019s Universities Face a Deepening Crisis as Tuition Soars and Student Welfare Deteriorates<\/h3>\n

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Iran\u2019s universities are facing a deepening affordability crisis as soaring tuition fees, rising accommodation costs, and deteriorating student services place higher education beyond the reach of growing numbers of families. What was once widely regarded as a path to professional advancement and social mobility is increasingly becoming a financial burden that forces students to choose between continuing their education and meeting basic living expenses.<\/p>\n

The crisis extends across tuition, student housing, and university food services. Reports from campuses point to sharply increased accommodation charges, deteriorating dormitory conditions, reduced food portions, and the elimination of meals at some universities. Meanwhile, tuition increases of as much as 230 percent at one medical university have intensified concerns over the growing commercialization of higher education under Iran\u2019s ruling regime.<\/p>\n

The consequences reach beyond individual students. As access to education becomes increasingly dependent on family income, the university system risks reinforcing the very class divisions that education is supposed to help overcome.<\/p>\n

The new academic year has brought a fresh wave of cost increases for students, including accommodation expenses that many families already struggle to afford.<\/p>\n

According to reporting by the state-run Shargh newspaper, student accommodation costs have nearly doubled. Students at the University of Tehran have reported that dormitory fees rose from 700,000 tomans to 1.3 million tomans per semester.<\/p>\n

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

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Iran: Executions, Death Sentences, Arrests & Prison Terms continue (Jan 2026 Protests)<\/h3>\n

\"iran-gallows-execution\"<\/p>\n

This report documents a severe escalation in mass repression, unfair trials, and the accelerated execution of death sentences against detainees from the nationwide January 2026 protests. Documented evidence and official records (including Amnesty International\u2019s Urgent Action dated October 16, 2026) demonstrate that the judicial machinery and security apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran are using severe physical and psychological torture, forced confessions, capital punishment for juvenile offenders, and bulk long-term imprisonment as instruments of terror to suppress civil dissent.<\/p>\n

According to Amnesty International\u2019s Urgent Action document (Amnesty International \u2013 Urgent Action, October 16, 2026<\/em>, MDE 13\/1573\/2026<\/a>), Iran\u2019s Supreme Court has upheld death sentences for at least 20 protesters arrested in connection with the January 2026 uprising, placing them at imminent risk of execution (Iran HRM has compiled the name of 158 Jan. 2026 protesters sentenced to death<\/a>). Furthermore, at least 34 individuals arrested in connection with these protests have already been arbitrarily executed. (Iran HRM has compiled the name of 37 executed Jan. 2026 protesters <\/a>)<\/p>\n

A) Executions Carried Out (At Least 34 Cases)<\/strong><\/p>\n