AFP Asia Business

Rubina was a budding fashion designer inspired by Iran’s multi-ethnic population. Rebin was an up-and-coming teen footballer. Mehdi was a champion bodybuilder who also won weightlifting titles. Erfan had just turned 18.All four, from various regions and backgrounds, were according to rights groups victims of the Iranian government’s crackdown on protests, gunned down by security forces in their prime.With the scale of the clampdown only now starting to emerge, rights groups say they have verified the killing of hundreds of protesters but fear the final toll could extend into the thousands.Iran Human Rights (IHR) director Mamood Amiry Moghaddam told AFP that protesters killed were “mostly young men”, although six women had also been identified.Nine of the 648 people it has identified and confirmed to have been killed by security forces were minors, he added.”The killings are intense all over the country where there have been protests,” he added.Dozens of members of the security forces have also been killed, according to Iranian officials, who have blamed “rioters” and Iran’s enemies abroad for turning protests initially motivated by economic grievances into days of unrest.- A budding fashion designer -Rubina Aminian, 23, was a student in textile and fashion design at the Shariati College in Tehran, a prestigious institution reserved for women.Her Instagram feed shows her proudly displaying clothes inspired by her Kurdish origins in the west of the country, but also the region of Sistan-Baluchistan in its southeast.On the evening of January 8, the first night of mass protests in which thousands of Iranians flooded into the streets, she left her college and joined the demonstrations, according to the Norway-based IHR, which analysed and verified her case.She was shot at close range from behind, with a bullet striking her head, it quoted a family source as saying, adding that relatives travelled from Kermanshah in western Iran to identify her body and were “confronted with the bodies of hundreds of young people killed in the protests”.They were able to retrieve her body after overcoming objections from officials but, on returning to Kermanshah, were not allowed to hold any mourning ceremony and were forced to bury her by the side of the road.- A teenager -The Hengaw rights group, also based in Norway, has verified both the deaths and also the backgrounds of several protesters it said were killed by security forces.Erfan Faraji, a resident of Rey, outside Tehran, was shot dead by Iranian government forces during the protests on January 7, it said. He had turned 18 just a week earlier.A source close to Faraji’s family told Hengaw his body was identified among those transferred on Saturday to the Kahrizak morgue, from where images of dozens of body bags sparked international alarm.His family collected his body on Saturday and he was buried without any public announcement.- A promising footballer -Rebin Moradi, a 17-year-old Kurdish student, originally from Salas-e Babajani in Kermanshah province but a resident of Tehran, was a member of the capital’s youth premier football league and a youth player with Saipa Club at the time of his death.He was seen as “as one of the promising young talents in Tehran’s youth football scene,” Hengaw said.Moradi was killed by Iranian government forces who shot him on Thursday, Hengaw said.A source familiar with the case told Hengaw that Moradi’s family received confirmation of his death but that they had not yet been allowed to take possession of his body.- A champion bodybuilder -Mehdi Zatparvar, 39, from Rasht in the Caspian Sea province of Gilan was a former bodybuilding champion who became a coach and held a master’s degree in sports physiology, Hengaw said.”Zatparvar began weightlifting at the age of 13 and earned national and international titles in powerlifting and weightlifting between 2011 and 2014,” it added.He was shot and killed on Friday, Hengaw said.

US President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting against the country’s theocratic leadership, telling them “help is on its way” as international outrage grows over a crackdown rights groups say has left at least hundreds dead.Iranian authorities insisted they had regained control after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday that have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.Rights groups accuse the government of gunning down protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now lasted almost five days.New videos on social media, whose location AFP verified, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue just south of the Iranian capital, with the corpses wrapped in black bags and distraught relatives searching for loved ones.International phone links were restored on Tuesday, but only for outgoing calls, according to an AFP journalist, and the quality remains spotty, with frequent interruptions.Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said Iranians should continue their nationwide protests, take over institutions and record the names of “killers and abusers”.”Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”It was not immediately clear what meetings he was referring to or what the nature of the help would be.European nations also signalled their anger, with France, Germany and the United Kingdom among the countries that summoned their Iranian ambassadors to protest what French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called “state violence unquestioningly unleashed on peaceful protesters”.”The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, vowing further sanctions against those responsible.- ‘Killing must stop’ -The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000”.The internet shutdown has made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, IHR said, adding that an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested. “The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning for those killed.Amir, an Iraqi computer scientist, returned to Baghdad on Monday and described dramatic scenes in Tehran.”On Thursday night, my friends and I saw protesters in Tehran’s Sarsabz neighbourhood amid a heavy military presence. The police were firing rubber bullets,” he told AFP in Iraq.- ‘Last days’ -The government on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated, calling them a “warning” to the United States. In power since 1989 and now 86, Khamenei has faced significant challenges, most recently the 12-day war in June against Israel, which resulted in the killing of top security officials and forced him to go into hiding.”When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a trip to India. “I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”Analysts, however, have cautioned that it is premature to predict the immediate demise of the theocratic system, pointing to the repressive levers the leadership has, including the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which are charged with safeguarding the Islamic revolution.”These protests arguably represent the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years, both in scale and in their increasingly explicit political demands,” Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP.She said it was unclear if the protests would unseat the leadership, pointing to “the sheer depth and resilience of Iran’s repressive apparatus”.Iranian authorities will press capital charges of “moharebeh”, or “waging war against God”, against some suspects arrested over recent demonstrations, prosecutors said, as alarm grows that the Islamic republic could use the death penalty to crack down on the protests.IHR highlighted the case of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested last week in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and who, according to a family source, has already been sentenced to death and is due to be executed as early as Wednesday.

Iranian authorities will press capital crime charges against some suspects arrested over recent demonstrations, prosecutors said Tuesday, as alarm grows that the Islamic republic could extensively use the death penalty to crack down on the protests.The office of the Tehran prosecutor said in a statement quoted by state television that an unspecified number would be charged with “moharebeh”, or “waging war against God”, a sharia law term which is a capital crime in Iran and used widely in the past in death penalty cases.”A number of rioters whose charges are consistent with moharebeh will soon be sent to court,” it said.Rights groups have said hundreds, and potentially even higher numbers, have been killed in the protests.Iranian state media emphasises that dozens of members of the security forces were killed at the hands of “rioters”.Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups. Last year, it hanged at least 1,500 people, Norway-based Iran Human Rights group (IHR) said.Twelve people were executed over the last major protest wave from 2022 to 2023, according to IHR. Another 12 people have been executed on charges of spying for Israel since a war in June between the two foes.It is “extremely worrying to see public statements by some judicial officials indicating the possibility of the death penalty being used against protesters through expedited judicial proceedings”, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.IHR said it feared the Islamic republic “is seeking to conduct rapid trials without observing fair trial standards for detained protesters”.It highlighted the case of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested last week in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and who, according to a family source, has already been sentenced to death and is due to be executed as early as Wednesday.It is not clear what the charges against him are and the case has not been reported by state media.

An Iranian went on trial in France Tuesday accused of promoting “terrorism” on social media in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held by the Islamic republic for over three-and-a-half years.Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting and inciting “terrorism” on social media over comments she is said to have made, including on Palestinian militant group Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, according to French authorities. Esfandiari was released in October pending her trial, whose date was scheduled long before the current protests erupted in Iran against the Iranian authorities.”I’m here today to finally speak about the facts, as there have been a lot of wrong stories about me in the media, and a lot of lies,” she said as she entered the courtroom for the four-day trial, in which several groups battling antisemitism are plaintiffs.French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris were arrested in Iran in May 2022, but they were freed in November after more than three years in prison on espionage charges their families vehemently denied.They were immediately taken by French diplomats to France’s mission in Tehran, but are still waiting to leave Iran.Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in November that Iran would allow Kohler and Paris to return home in “exchange” for France freeing Esfandiari.France has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such an exchange deal.But it has downsized its staff at its embassy in Tehran after mass protests erupted nationwide last week, in one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.Relatives of Paris and Kohler told AFP that they were in good health and being well looked after by the remaining embassy staff.The demonstrations have triggered a crackdown that activists say has killed at least 648 people during an internet blackout.France has described Kohler and Paris as “state hostages” taken by Tehran in a bid to extract concessions. They were convicted on espionage charges their families have always condemned as fabricated.Dozens of Europeans, North Americans and other Western citizens have been arrested in the last few years in similar circumstances.Iran has previously carried out exchanges of Westerners for Iranians held by the West, but insists foreigners are convicted fully in line with the law.

The former empress of Iran, widow of the shah deposed by the Islamic revolution, on Tuesday urged the Iranian security forces to support protests shaking the clerical leadership that ousted her husband.Farah Pahlavi, 87, echoing calls made by her son the former crown prince Reza Pahlavi, said she believed “light will triumph over darkness” despite a crackdown by authorities that activists fear has left hundreds dead.She left Iran on January 16, 1979 alongside her husband Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, just two weeks before the return to the country of Islamic revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Her husband died in 1980.Farah Pahlavi had on January 2 welcomed the protests as “filling my heart with pride”, but this is her first statement since they grew into large-scale demonstrations last week calling for an end to the Islamic republic.”I know that the dark-minded have cut off your lines of communication with the outside world out of fear of hearing your voice, but know that your message is too loud to be silenced,” she said, referring to an internet blackout that has lasted over four days.Addressing the Iranian security forces, the former empress, or “shahbanu”, added: “Remember that the survival of no government and the preservation of no benefit justify the shedding of the blood of your compatriots. “Hear the cries of anger and rage of the protesters. Join your other brothers and sisters before it is too late and do not tie your fate to the fate of the murderers,” she said.Describing the people of Iran as “my children”, she added: “Be strong and believe that soon you will celebrate freedom together in Iran, and light will triumph over darkness.”Farah Pahlavi was the third wife of the shah, who she met while a student in Paris. Their romance was an international sensation in the 1960s and 70s and she became an icon, with her image captured by the likes of artist Andy Warhol.Her son Reza has emerged as one of the key diaspora figures in the protests, calling for nightly rallies and urging support from US President Donald Trump. Commentators have noted that pro-Pahlavi slogans urging a restoration of the monarchy have been frequent chants.

Widespread destruction, massive military spending and plummeting oil and gold revenues have left Sudan’s economy in “very difficult times”, army-aligned finance minister Gibril Ibrahim said, nearly three years into the army’s war with rival paramilitary forces.In an interview with AFP from his office in Port Sudan, Ibrahim said the government is eyeing deals for Red Sea ports and private investment to help rebuild infrastructure.This week, Sudan’s prime minister announced the government’s official return to Khartoum, recaptured last year, but Ibrahim’s ministry is among those yet to fully return.Dressed in combat uniform, the former rebel leader said Sudan, already one of the world’s poorest countries before the war, “lost all sources of state revenue in the beginning of the war”, when the Rapid Support Forces overtook the capital Khartoum and its surroundings.”Most of the industry, most of the big companies and all of the economic activity was concentrated in the centre,” he said, saying the heartland had accounted for some 80 percent of state revenue.Ibrahim’s ex-rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement once battled Khartoum’s government but it has fought on the army’s side as part of the Joint Forces coalition of armed groups.- Smuggling -Sudan, rich in oil, gold deposits and arable land, is currently suffering the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over half of its population in need of aid to survive.Gold production is rising year-on-year, but “unfortunately, much of it has been smuggled… across borders, through different countries, and going to the Gulf, mainly to the United Arab Emirates”, he said.Of the 70 tonnes produced in 2025, only “20 tonnes have been exported through official channels”.In 2024, Sudan produced 64 tonnes of gold, bringing in only $1.57 billion to the state’s depleted coffers, with much of the revenue spilling out via smuggling networks.Agricultural exports have fallen 43 percent, with much of the country’s productive gum arabic, sesame and peanut-growing regions in paramilitary hands, in the western Darfur and southern Kordofan regions.Sudan’s livestock industry, also based predominantly in Darfur, has lost 55 percent of its exports, he said.Since the RSF captured the army’s last holdout position in Darfur in October, the war’s worst fighting has shifted east to the oil-rich Kordofan region.While both sides scramble for control of the territory, the country’s oil revenues have dropped by more than 50 percent — its most productive refinery, Al-Jaili near Khartoum, severely damaged.- ‘Reconstruction’ -Determined to defeat the RSF, authorities allocated 40 percent of last year’s budget to the war effort, up from 36 percent in 2024, according to Ibrahim, who did not specify amounts.Yet the cost of reconstruction in areas regained by the army is immense: in December 2024, the government estimated it would need $200 billion to rebuild.Authorities are currently eyeing public-private partnership, with firms that “are ready to spend money” including on infrastructure, Ibrahim said.Sudan’s long Red Sea coast has over the years drawn the interest of foreign actors eager for a base on the vital waterway, through which around 12 percent of global trade passes.”We will see which partner is the best to build a port,” the minister said, listing both Saudi Arabia and Qatar as “the main applicants”.An early-stage project for an Emirati economic zone had been agreed in principle, he said “and then the war erupted, and the UAE has been part of it”.”So I don’t think that project is going anywhere,” Ibrahim said, referring to widespread accusations of Abu Dhabi backing the RSF, which the UAE denies.The Russians, for their part, had also wanted “a small port where they can have supplies”, he said, adding that “they didn’t go ahead with that yet”.As the war rages on, Sudan shoulders a massive public debt bill, which in 2023 reached 253 percent of GDP, before falling slightly to 221 percent in 2025, according to figures reported by the International Monetary Fund.Sudan has known only triple-digit annual inflation for years. Figures for 2025 stood at 151 percent — down from a 2021 peak of 358. The currency has also collapsed, going from trading before the war at 570 Sudanese pounds against the dollar, to 3500 in 2026, according to the black market rate.Ibrahim, 71, first joined the government in 2021 as part of a short-lived transitional administration. He retained his position through a military coup later that year.He is among several Sudanese officials sanctioned by Washington in its attempt to “limit Islamist influence within Sudan and curtail Iran’s regional activities”.

US President Donald Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ramping up pressure as a rights group estimated a crackdown on protests has killed at least 648 people.Iranian authorities insisted they have regained control after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday that have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.But rights groups accuse the government of using live fire against protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now lasted more than four days. International phone calls however have resumed in Iran after being blocked for days, an AFP correspondent in Tehran said on Tuesday, but only outgoing calls could be made.Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the United States.”This order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who it will affect. Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to economic database Trading Economics.The White House said Monday that Trump remained “unafraid” to deploy military force against Iran, but was pursuing diplomacy as a first resort.  – Large-scale killings -The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000”.The internet shutdown has made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, IHR said, adding that an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested. “Iranian authorities have significantly intensified their lethal crackdown on protesters since January 8, with credible reports that security forces are carrying out large-scale killings across the country,” Human Rights Watch said.Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning for those killed.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to Al Jazeera, insisted that the government had been “in dialogue” with the protesters in the initial phase of the movement and the internet was only cut “after we confronted terrorist operations and realised orders were coming from outside the country”.Addressing Trump’s threats, he added: “We are prepared for any eventuality and we hope Washington will choose a wise option. It doesn’t matter which option they choose, we are ready for it.”- ‘Last days’ -The government on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated, in a “warning” to the United States. In power since 1989 and now 86, Khamenei has faced significant challenges, most recently the 12-day war in June against Israel which resulted in the killing of top security officials and forced him to go into hiding.”When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a trip to India. “I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”Analysts however have cautioned that it is premature to predict the immediate demise of the theocratic system, pointing to the repressive levers the leadership has, including the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which are charged with safeguarding the Islamic revolution.”These protests arguably represent the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years, both in scale and in their increasingly explicit political demands,” Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP.She said it was unclear if the protests would unseat the leadership, pointing to “the sheer depth and resilience of Iran’s repressive apparatus”.French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement condemning “the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights”. Prize-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi told broadcaster France Inter: “The Iranian people are defenceless today, and despite all that, they are out on the streets.” Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah who has been vocal in calling for protests, said Trump was a man who “means what he says and says what he means” and who “knows what’s at stake”.”The red line that was drawn has been definitely surpassed by this regime.”