Brutal protest crackdown marks Tehran's death throes, ex-CIA chief says

Check Point Research said on Monday the Iran-linked “Handala Hack” group resurfaced during the nationwide internet blackout.

The firm says the group is now routing its operations through Starlink IP ranges to hit targets across the Middle East.

Security forces shot and killed Alireza Rahimi, a 26-year-old man, during protests in eastern Tehran on Thursday, Jan. 8, an eyewitness and people familiar with the matter told Iran International.

Rahimi was shot directly in the back of the head with live ammunition at Sevvom Square in the Tehranpars area.

An eyewitness said the shooting in the area was carried out from rooftops.

After being shot, Rahimi collapsed into the arms of his uncle and died 45 minutes after being transferred to hospital, the eyewitness said.

A source close to the family said relatives paid an ambulance driver at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery to locate Rahimi’s body among several thousand bodies stored inside sheds. His body was eventually identified inside an ambulance alongside several other victims.

Because Rahimi’s face was severely disfigured by the live round, a close family member confirmed his identity by opening his eyelid and identifying him by eye color, the source said.

Rahimi, who had a twin brother named Amirreza, was buried without funeral prayers or religious ceremonies, with his favorite music played during the burial.

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida and the chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran advocacy group, called the Islamic Republic "a barbaric, repressive, and dying regime,” responding to what he called a "delusional rant" by Iran's foreign minister on the recent nationwide protests in the country.

“The regime right now is on its last leg. It's on the verge of collapse. It's going to attempt every other means to yet again survive,” Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi said in an interview with Fox News on Monday.

“That's why a definitive strike is going to completely reverse the odds in favour of the nation and defenseless people. That's what we need in terms of actual support,” he added.

Asked whether he meant American strikes, Pahlavi said: “It could be an American strike. It could be an Israeli strike. It could be whatever the Iranian people now are looking at the cavalry coming, because we can only hold the fort up to a point.”

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said lawmakers honored those killed in Iran with a moment of applause during the Parliament's first plenary session in 2026.

“The people of Iran don’t need silence. They have been kept forcefully silent for 47 years. They deserve to be free,” Metsola said in a post on X on Monday.