Renewed Protests in Iran’s Restive Southeast, Currency at New Low

People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
TT

Renewed Protests in Iran’s Restive Southeast, Currency at New Low

People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Demonstrators marched in Iran's restive southeast on Friday amid reports on social media that security forces were surrounding a mosque at the center of weekly anti-government rallies.

Anti-government protests have been taking place across Iran since last September's death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini for flouting hijab policy, which requires women to entirely cover their hair and bodies.

"We swear on our comrades' blood to stand strong until the end," hundreds of demonstrators were seen chanting in a video from the flashpoint city of Zahedan posted by the activist news agency HRANA.

Another widely-circulated video purported to show security forces beating and arresting a Baluch man trying to enter the Makki Mosque in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

The Baluch minority, estimated to number up to 2 million people, has faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to rights groups. Sistan-Baluchistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of Iran's poorest provinces and has seen repeated killings by security forces in recent years.

Zahedan saw one of the deadliest days of protests after Amini's death, with at least 66 people killed in a crackdown there on Sept. 30, Amnesty International said.

As with previous bouts of unrest, authorities appeared to have disrupted internet services on Friday.

"Confirmed: Real-time network data show a significant disruption to internet connectivity in Zahedan, #Iran; the incident comes amid a growing security presence during Friday protests," NetBlocks internet monitor said.

There was no immediate word on state media of Friday's protests. Tehran says the protests are instigated by its foreign enemies.

Meanwhile, Iran's currency continued its slide to hit new lows, weighed by the unrest and Tehran's increased isolation under mounting Western sanctions.

The rial plummeted to a new record low of 539,200 against the US dollar on Friday, compared to 526,500 on Thursday, according to foreign exchange site Bonbast.com, amid reports of new sanctions against Iran.

The US Commerce Department targeted Belarus, Iran and others in its latest response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, imposing export control measures and adding more targets to its entity list.

While the nationwide unrest has diminished in recent weeks, probably because of executions and crackdowns, acts of civil disobedience have continued from anti-government graffiti to unveiled women appearing in public.



US, Russia Agree to Reestablish Military Dialogue after Ukraine Talks

A resident with a dog walks near an apartment building damaged during a Russian overnight drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
A resident with a dog walks near an apartment building damaged during a Russian overnight drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
TT

US, Russia Agree to Reestablish Military Dialogue after Ukraine Talks

A resident with a dog walks near an apartment building damaged during a Russian overnight drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
A resident with a dog walks near an apartment building damaged during a Russian overnight drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

The US and Russia agreed Thursday to reestablish high-level military dialogue for the first time in more than four years in another sign of warming relations between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to office and sought to end the war in Ukraine.

High-level military communication was suspended in late 2021, as tension between Moscow and Washington rose ahead of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump then campaigned for a second term on promises that he would swiftly end the fighting.

Many of his proposals for peace have heavily favored the Kremlin, including requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

The restored communication channel “will provide a consistent military-to-military contact as the parties continue to work towards a lasting peace,” the U.S. European Command said in a statement. The agreement emerged from a meeting between senior Russian and American military officials in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

US Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who is the commander in Europe of both US and NATO forces, was in Abu Dhabi, where talks between American, Russian and Ukrainian officials on ending the war entered a second day.

Meanwhile, Moscow escalated its attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in an apparent effort to deny civilians power and to weaken public support for the fight, while hostilities continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.

The resumption of the military hotline marks an effort to ease tensions that soared after the start of the war and to avoid collisions between Russian and US forces.

In one such incident in March 2023, the American military said it ditched an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea after a pair of Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on it, and then one of them struck its propeller while flying in international airspace.

Moscow has denied that its warplanes hit the drone, alleging that it crashed while making a sharp maneuver. The Kremlin said its aircraft reacted to a violation of a no-fly zone Russia has established in the area near Crimea.


Iran Seizes 2 Foreign Oil Tankers in Persian Gulf, State Media Says

In this photo taken on August 18, 2019, an Iranian flag flutters on board an oil tanker that entered Syria’s Baniyas Port. (AFP File Photo)
In this photo taken on August 18, 2019, an Iranian flag flutters on board an oil tanker that entered Syria’s Baniyas Port. (AFP File Photo)
TT

Iran Seizes 2 Foreign Oil Tankers in Persian Gulf, State Media Says

In this photo taken on August 18, 2019, an Iranian flag flutters on board an oil tanker that entered Syria’s Baniyas Port. (AFP File Photo)
In this photo taken on August 18, 2019, an Iranian flag flutters on board an oil tanker that entered Syria’s Baniyas Port. (AFP File Photo)

Iran seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, state television reported, claiming the vessels had been smuggling fuel.

The report did not provide a nationality of the tankers or say what flag they were flying under.

Gen. Heidar Honarian Mojarrad, a regional commander with the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, said the tankers had been carrying about 1 million liters of fuel (about 6,300 barrels), including diesel and were seized near Farsi island and transferred to Bushehr, The AP news reported.

Fifteen crew members on board the two tankers are “in custody of judicial bodies,” he said, without providing their nationalities.

Iran occasionally seizes oil-carrying vessels over similar charges in the region.

In December, it seized a foreign tanker as it traveled the strategic Strait of Hormuz, detaining 16 crew. It had also seized a ship in the Strait of Hormuz in November.

The West has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Those attacks began after US President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.


Germany's Merz Urges Iran to 'Truly Enter Talks' with US

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
TT

Germany's Merz Urges Iran to 'Truly Enter Talks' with US

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan(not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 28 January 2026. (EPA)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Iran's leadership to "truly enter talks" on Thursday, the eve of their planned negotiations with US envoys, saying there was a "great fear of military escalation in the region".

Speaking to reporters in the Qatari capital Doha, Merz said Iran had to "stop its nuclear program" and avoid "further military threats" to Israel and other countries in the region.

"Talks will therefore be intensified in the next hours," Merz said, adding that Germany was "co-ordinating closely" with the US.

Merz also responded to comments from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in which he attacked Merz's "political naivety and distasteful character", recalling that Merz had described Israel's June 2025 attack on Iran as doing the "dirty work... for all of us".

Araghchi called Germany an "engine of regression" in a post on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

"I have seen this tweet and can only say it seems to be a sign of great nervousness and insecurity," Merz said.