Drone attack in Russia, hybrid war in Iran, presidential kidnapping in Venezuela, and the grand strategy of the United States

January 20, 2026
Mauricio Metri

They are all directly or indirectly linked to the new Grand Strategy, whose main challenge is China.

Trump: It’s Time to Look for New Leadership in Iran

January 18, 2026
Kyle Anzalone

After backing away from bombing Iran last week, Trump threatened regime change in Tehran

Googoosh, the ‘Voice of Iran,’ has gone quiet – and that’s her point

January 15, 2026
Richard Nedjat-Haiem

Before Beyoncé, before Cher, before Madonna, there was Googoosh.

Reading Tehran’s Message: Protest, Power, and the Limits of US Coercion

January 18, 2026

Iran’s Supreme Leader accused the US of orchestrating unrest as protests continue, while analysts say Washington’s direct involvement marks a dangerous shift in pressure on Tehran.

Iran has defeated the US – Khamenei

January 18, 2026

Washington must be held accountable for instigating unrest in the country, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader has said

Israel Fears It Can’t Defend Against Iran

January 17, 2026
Joe Lauria

Benjamin Netanyahu called Donald Trump to urge him to hold off on bombing Iran because, reports say, Israel feels vulnerable to Iran’s counterattack, writes Joe Lauria.

Iran: Growing Evidence of Countrywide Massacres

January 17, 2026

Iran’s Khamenei says US, Israel links behind ‘thousands killed’ in protests

January 17, 2026

The country’s supreme leader says foreign-backed protests ‘caused massive damage and killed several thousands’.

Iran’s latest internet blackout extends to phones and Starlink

January16, 2026
The Iranian regime’s internet shutdown, initiated on Jan. 8, 2026, has severely diminished the flow of information out of the country. Without internet access, little news about the national protests that flared between Dec. 30, 2025, and Jan. 13, 2026, and the regime’s violent crackdown has reached the world. Many digital rights and internet monitoring groups have assessed the current shutdown to be the most sophisticated and most severe in Iran’s history.
We are a social scientist and two computer scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Internet Intelligence Lab who study internet connectivity.

Iran’s Protesters Are Caught Between State Repression and Foreign Intervention

January 15, 2026
Alex Shams

Both Trump and the Iranian government are treating Iranian protesters as political pawns.

“This Regime Will Fall”: Director Jafar Panahi on Deadly Iran Protests & Filmmaking Under Censorship

January 15, 2026
With Iran gripped by nationwide protests that activists say have left at least 2,600 people dead, we recently spoke with renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose latest film, It Was Just an Accident, was shot entirely in secret inside Iran and won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film has since been shortlisted for an Oscar in the international feature category. Panahi dedicated a recent New York Film Critics Circle Award to Iranian protesters.

 

Iran’s protests have spread across provinces, despite skepticism and concern among ethnic groups

January 15, 2026
When Iran’s ongoing protests began in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Dec. 28 2025, the government initially treated them as manageable and temporary.

Protester in Punak, Tehran on Jan. 10, 2026

Right Message, Wrong Messengers: A Brief History of Oil and U.S. Empire in Iran

January 14, 2026
Eric Ross
Multiple things can be true at once. The Iranian people are engaged in a legitimate popular struggle against an entrenched political elite that has failed to meet their material needs and has answered demands for freedom and dignity with unconscionable violence and repression. At the same time, the U.S. has no political, legal, or moral basis to intervene in Iran. The dire state of the country, as is true of Venezuela and Cuba, the two other nations targeted by the latest neo-neoconservative regime change enthusiasts blinded by imperial hubris and a fetishization of military power, is in significant part the result of Washington’s own policies.
Since 1979, the U.S. has pursued policies aimed at ensuring the failure of the Iranian Revolution. In the decades that followed, and with particular acceleration under the Trump administration, this effort crystallized into a sanctions regime designed not to promote democracy or human rights but to drive ordinary Iranians into a state of immiseration. This strategy, deployed against governments that Washington unilaterally deems problematic, occasionally for defensible reasons but far more often for refusing to subordinate themselves to U.S. imperial and corporate power, has been linked to an estimated 38 million deaths worldwide since 1971.

Trump’s Iran tariff threat risks reigniting US-China trade war

January 14, 2026
Nigel Green

Threatened 25% tax on all countries that trade with Iran is a deliberate shot across China’s bow

China is Iran's biggest oil customer. Image: X Screengrab

جنبش در ایران

می‌گویند بزرگترین، و در واقع تنها خدمتی که جمهوری اسلامی به ایرانیان کرد شناساندن اسلام بود. در نتیجه پس از حدود نیم قرن دزدی و ارتشائ زمامداران این سرزمین به نام اسلام، گروهی‌ به مطالعهٔ تاریخ اسلام و چگونگیِ به وجود آمدنِ این دین پرداختند، و فجایع آن را در کتب تاریخی‌ مشاهده کردند. شاید این باعث شود که اکثر ایرانیان کنجکاو شوند و بهترین تاریخی‌ که در مورد اسلام به نگارش درآمده، یعنی‌ تاریخ طبری، را مطالعه کنند. همچنین، شاید این آغازی باشد که خوی به اسلام و ایراد اصطلاحات اسلامی و عربی‌ نیز از گفته‌ها زدوده شود.ا

Iran state TV acknowledges 'a lot of martyrs' as death toll surpasses 3,000: report

January 13, 2026
Greg Norman-Diamond
Iranian state television acknowledged Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has lost "a lot of martyrs" in ongoing anti-government protests sweeping the country, a report said.

Will Iran’s crackdown playbook work this time?

January 13, 2026
Amin Naeni

Past suppression techniques not having the same effect as regime wobbles like never before under protest pressure

Iranian protesters block a street in Tehran on January 9. Photo: MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images via The Conversation

Report: Military Tells Trump It Needs More Time to Prepare for War With Iran

January 11, 2026
Kyle Anzalone

Military commanders in the Middle East want more time to prepare for Iranian counterattacks

Iran blocks internet and deploys IRGC as widespread protests continue

January 11, 2026

Revolutionary Guard Corps says protecting achievement of 1979 revolution is 'red line', as Trump issues warning to Tehran

Iran’s army pledges to defend national interests after US backs protesters

January 10, 2026

Iran’s ‍elite IRGC, which operates separately from army, also says safeguarding country’s security is a ‘red line’.

This screengrab taken from a video shot on January 6, 2026 shows Iranian security forces using tear gas to disperse protesters at the iconic Tehran's Grand Bazaar [AFP]