France suspects Iran crackdown might be most violent in recent history
France suspects that Iran’s crackdown on demonstrations across the country is the most violent in the country’s contemporary history, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday.
“What we suspect is that this is the most violent repression in Iran’s contemporary history and that it must absolutely stop,” Mr Barrot said.
A human rights expert also described the ongoing crackdown in Iran as one of the most severe in recent memory.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme how the speed and scale of the crackdown compares to previous protests, Awyer Shekhi, from Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw, said such measures have been seen before but “not as severe as this time”.
“We have never witnessed this scale of mass killings in the big cities like Tehran,” she said.
“We believe that Iranian government is doing all of this to spread more fear among the people, to kind of use this to control the population, to not allow any more protests to happen.”
Alex Croft14 January 2026 12:59
Russia rallies behind Iran as US weighs strikes
Russia’s veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says that Moscow needs to keep working with Iran despite ‘unreliable’ US behaviour.
“Our American colleagues look unreliable when they act in this way,” he told a news conference in Moscow.
He also said Washington was threatening to destroy the international order it helped build with its recent operations in Venezuela.
James Reynolds14 January 2026 12:49
Trump says ‘Iran should behave’ in warning over nuclear tensions
Trump says ‘Iran should behave’ in warning over nuclear tensions
Alex Croft14 January 2026 12:37
EU draws up new sanctions against Iranian officials
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says new sanctions will be imposed on Iranian officials over the crackdown on protesters.
“The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive use of force and continued restriction of freedom,” von der Leyen said in a post on social media.
She said that in cooperation with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas “further sanctions on those responsible for the repression will be swiftly proposed. We stand with the people of Iran who are bravely marching for their liberty”.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and others over past concerns about human rights abuses in Iran.
Alex Croft14 January 2026 12:17
Lavrov says Moscow must keep working with Iran
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow needed to keep working with Iran to implement their bilateral agreements and that no other country could change the nature of ties between Russia and Iran.
Lavrov was speaking at a news conference in Moscow.
A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that Tehran had warned neighbouring countries hosting US troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington carries out threats to intervene in protests in Iran.
Alex Croft14 January 2026 11:56
Who is Erfan Soltani and why is Iran expected to execute the protestor today?
An Iranian protester is facing execution on Wednesday over his alleged involvement in protests sweeping the nation, rights groups have claimed.
Alex Croft14 January 2026 11:17
Family of Erfan Soltani protests for his release outside prison – report
The family of Erfan Soltani, who a rights group says will become the first person to be executed in Iran in connection with the latest protests, made a desperate bid to save him, according to a report.
Mr Soltani, 26, is one of the nearly 20,000 people who have been arrested, according to HRANA. But according to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, he will be first to face execution.
Last night, his family protested outside the Ghezel Hesar prison where he is being held in solitary confinement, a member of the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights told the Daily Mail.
Alex Croft14 January 2026 11:16
Latest images coming out of Iran
Protesters in front of a building set on fire in Tehran (UGC)Iranian state TV has released select footage and images (WANA)More than 2,500 have died in the protests (WANA)
Alex Croft14 January 2026 10:58
Senior Iranian commander warns Tehran at ‘highest level of readiness’
A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has warned that Tehran is at the “peak of our readiness” to respond to any attack by US forces.
Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Mousavi also said Iran’s missile stockpile has increased since June – when the Twelve-Day war saw Iran, Israel and the UStrade blows
Alex Croft14 January 2026 10:33
Personnal advised to leave US base in Qatar amid threat of Iran strike
Some personnel were advised to leave the U.S. military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening, three diplomats told Reuters.
Iran has warned countries in the region that it will strike US bases if Washington decides to carry out attacks in Iran – something which Donald Trump has been threatening for days.
The US embassy in Doha has not commented.
Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest US base housing around 10,000 troops. Ahead of the US air strikes on Iran in June some personnel were moved off US bases in the Middle East.
Alex Croft14 January 2026 09:55
