On 29 January 2026, the European Union formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, as a terrorist organisation after a unanimous decision by all 27 member states at the Foreign Affairs Council. The move places the IRGC on the EU terrorist list alongside ISIL and Al Qaida, signalling that Europe views the Guard not as a conventional state body, but as a driver of repression and transnational violence.

In a rare and historic action, 106 Nobel Prize laureates issued a joint statement condemning the systematic repression and widespread human rights violations in Iran and declaring their firm support for the Iranian people’s uprising for freedom, social justice, and the establishment of a democratic republic. The statement highlights that protesters across Iran, by calling for freedom, reject all forms of dictatorship, whether royal or religious, and demand a democratic, pluralistic, and corruption-free republic.

4th January 2026 - Iran is witnessing one of its most serious waves of unrest in years, as nationwide strikes and street protests enter a second week and expose growing cracks in the ruling theocracy’s ability to govern through fear and repression. What began as economic anger over currency collapse and unpaid wages has evolved into open defiance, with merchants, workers, students, and ordinary residents taking to the streets across multiple cities. As security forces respond with force, protesters are increasingly showing a willingness to confront repression rather than retreat, signalling a shift in the balance of fear that has long sustained the system.