Image source, Reuters

Unrest that began with shopkeepers taking to the streets of Tehran more than two weeks ago has spiralled, with more than 2,400 protesters estimated by one human rights group to have been killed in a government crackdown.

Originally, demonstrations beginning on 28 December were over a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency, but broadened into anti-government protests calling for an end to the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Protests now appear to be slowing down, with sources telling BBC Persian of a heavy security presence in place in Tehran and Karaj.

The internet has also been shut off by the authorities since last Thursday, preventing Iranians contacting the outside world as well as each other.

Several European countries - including France, Spain, Finland, Belgium and Germany - have summoned Iranian ambassadors over the violence. The UK has also done so, citing the "brutal killing of Iranian protesters".

However, China, Iran's main trading partner, has rejected Trump's new tariff of 25% tariff on those who commercially deal with the regime.

US President Donald Trump has been urging protesters to continue, and warned Iran that America will take "very strong action" if Iran executes protesters.

• We're pausing our live coverage for now, but you can read more in our story, as well as our explainer on the developing situation.

Niko Kelbakiani
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights

There is no news yet today on the case of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old man arrested during the ongoing unrest.

A relative speaking to BBC Persian said the family was told he was due to be executed on 14 January, following his arrest last Thursday.

Iranian officials and state-affiliated media are yet to comment on Soltani's case at all. But judicial authorities have been speaking of fast-tracking legal actions against arrested protesters, whom they call "rioters" and "terrorists".

Iran has one of the highest rates of executions in the world, with reportedly more than 2,000 cases in 2025.

But even in Iran, death penalty cases usually take years to move through the courts.

The authorities previously fast-tracked this process for the 2022 protests, executing a person just three months after their arrest.

Iran stands on the brink of change, but what kind?published at 10:17 GMT 14 January

10:17 GMT 14 January

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Iran is changing, but it's impossible to say now how it will change.

So far, the centre is holding. We've not seen any cracks - neither in the highest political echelons nor in the security forces, including the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps set up in 1979 with one task: protect the revolution.

On the opposition side, there are many voices in exile; sometimes they go after each other as well as the regime. There are also some noble voices from inside Iran, including Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel laureate still in prison as she calls for peaceful change from within.

During this wave of unrest, we've seen the how the exiled former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has shown his capacity to mobilise. But in the past he has not been a unifying figure.

Social movements often pride themselves on being leaderless - then there's no recognisable head for authorities to remove.

But this worries Iranians who want to see change, but not chaos or collapse; they may long for reform not revolution.

What is clear in this unrest is there are no longer any easy fixes. Iran is broken economically and politically. The pieces are there - how they'll come together, no one can say for sure.

By BBC Monitoring and Ghoncheh Habibiazad, BBC Persian

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has demanded swift legal action against those involved in the anti-Islamic Republic protests.

He was speaking during a visit to a detention centre in Tehran where he was said to be personally reviewing the cases of recently arrested "rioters" and speaking directly to detainees.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Fars news agency's Telegram channel this morning published photos and quotes from the visit.

Ejei said protesters who attacked people and security forces, places and buildings, and "committed terrorist acts should definitely be given priority for trial and punishment".

Ejei said that authorities were planning to hold open trials for some of the main figures involved in recent unrest, with proceedings accessible to the media.

His comments follow a recent estimate from one human rights group that 2,403 protesters have been killed in the government crackdown. The BBC has previously verified footage of security forces firing at protesters.

Image source, EPA

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned his country will defend itself against "evil and foreign interference" following Donald Trump's recent comments urging civilians to "keep protesting".

Over the past few hours Araghchi has posted on his Telegram channel about various phone conversations he has had with Turkish, United Arab Emirate and French officials and ministers.

In his call with UAE's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Iran's foreign ministry said Araghchi spoke about the unrest in Iran and "emphasised that calm has prevailed".

"Referring to the provocative statements of American officials, which are considered blatant interference in Iran's internal affairs, Araghchi emphasised the determination of the Iranian people to defend national sovereignty and the country's security against any evil and foreign interference," the post said on Telegram.

David Gritten
BBC News

We've reported protester Erfan Soltani is expected to be executed by Iranian authorities today.

At least 12 men have been executed in Iran over the past three years after being sentenced to death in connection with the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests.

That nationwide unrest was triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was accused by morality police of wearing "improper" hijab.

Image source, Reuters

Human rights groups say the last such execution happened on 6 September, when Mehran Bahramian was hanged at Isfahan central prison.

The Norway-based group, Iran Human Rights, reported at the time that the authorities had tortured Bahramian to obtain confessions and that he did not receive a fair trial.

He was sentenced to death by a court in January 2024 on the charge of "enmity against God" for allegedly killing a member of the Revolutionary Guards at a protest in Semirom in December 2022, it said.

Image source, Getty Images

The exiled son of Iran's last shah has urged US lawmakers to back measures to empower Iranians as he believes opposition forces are "ready to step in" if Tehran's government collapses

During an interview with Fox News, external on Tuesday night, Reza Pahlavi said: “Do not throw us under the bus by trying to negotiate or appease a regime that for 47 years has brutalised our nation."

"A lot of people are ready to step in," Pahlavi continued. "There's a counterpart outside (Iran) that in a sort of hybrid system can help one another in that process."

He said that if the regime collapsed, "we can immediately engage those forces within."

• You can read more here about Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah at centre of protest chants

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

A heavy security presence is in place in Tehran and Karaj, sources have said.

Businesses are struggling to hold up right now with the internet outage, a contact who lives near Tehran tells me.

They said that they had been speaking to a manager of a company in Iran reliant on the internet, who went to the relevant authorities to check on the internet situation.

The manager was told that no-one knows when it will be back and thinks that unless the blackout is lifted, they can only keep the company running for another week at most.

The source tells me that “this situation and the ongoing internet shutdown increase the likelihood of unrest. A lot of businesses are online, and many programmers work remotely.”

Image source, Getty Images

Internet tracking agency NetBlocks says Iran remains offline as the internet blackout passes its 132nd hour.

The blackout - imposed by Iranian authorities - is stopping most Iranians from contacting the outside world, making it difficult to verify what's happening inside the country.

It began last Thursday, after videos from protests were posted on social media, and eye-witness accounts from Iranians on the ground were reported to foreign journalists.

Shekhi is asked how different in scale and speed to which Iranian authorities are carrying out the crackdowns compared to previous protests in years gone by.

"The previous protests we saw crackdowns but not as severe as this time," Shekhi tells Today.

"We have never witnessed this scale of mass killings in the big cities like Tehran.

"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."

We've just heard from Awyer Shekhi, from Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw, who says she's afraid there are "many" cases like Erfan Soltani - an Iranian protester who is expected to be executed today.

But because of the internet blackout, the human rights group does not have information about others who may have been sentenced to death, Shekhi tells Radio 4's Today programme.

Shekhi says Erfan's sister, a lawyer, tried to pursue her brother's case but was told by authorities that there was no case to pursue.

The Iranian authorities have told the family they will allow a final meeting with Erfan before his execution, Shekhi says. Though since his arrest he hasn't been allowed any contact with his family, she adds.

"He's just someone who's against the current situation in Iran... now he's received a death sentence for expressing his opinion," she says.

"To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting," the US President said during a speech in Michigan on Tuesday.

Trump urged Iranians to "take over institutions" and to remember the names of "killers and abusers" - as they will "pay a very big price".

Reviving his vow that the US would come to the rescue of Iranian civilians protesting against the government, he also pledged that "help is on the way".

When asked to clarify this by the BBC's US partner CBS News, Trump said: "There's a lot of help on the way, in different forms, economic help from our standpoint, and we're not going to help Iran very much."

Referencing the deaths of protesters in Iran, the president said "it looks like a pretty substantial number".

Asked about reports that protesters are due to be executed on Wednesday, Trump said the US will take "very strong action if they do such a thing".

Image source, The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights

A relative of Iranian protester Erfan Soltani, who was detained by Iranian authorities last week, says he is expected be executed today.

Reports indicate that a death sentence has been handed down to Soltani, 26, after he was allegedly involved in protests near the Iranian capital Tehran.

A relative told BBC Persian that Soltani was arrested on Thursday, the day when protests in Iran reached their peak.

“In an extremely rapid process, within just two days, the court issued a death sentence," the relative said, adding the family was told he was due to be executed Wednesday, 14 January.

Awyar Shekhi, from the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, said her teams "have never seen a case move so quickly".

Shekhi is due to speak to Today on BBC Radio 4 after 07:00 GMT. We will bring you the latest lines from that interview.

The latest estimate on the number of people killed in the nationwide protests in Iran stands at 2,571 - according to the American-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

It is an increase of several hundred compared to the figure last verified by HRANA on Tuesday afternoon.

According to HRANA, its latest total figure includes 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, twelve people aged under 18 and nine non-protester civilians.

The BBC has not independently verified these figures. Most international news organisations, including the BBC, are restricted from operating inside the country.

Image source, Reuters

We're resuming our coverage of Iran's crackdown against weeks of anti-government protests as Donald Trump warns of "strong action" if demonstrators are executed.

"If they hang them, you're going to see some things," Trump told the BBC's US partner CBS News, as a rights group says more than 2,400 anti-government demonstrators have been killed in response to protests.

Relatives of 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week, have told BBC Persian that he is due to be executed on Wednesday.

Awyar Shekhi, a representative of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, says that the case demonstrates the Iranian government is "using every tactic they know to suppress people and spread fear".

Iran's ambassador to the UN has accused Trump of inciting violence, after he urged Iranians: "KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!

Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments.