Archive November 1, 2025

Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, president, unveiled a “Gen Z adviser” about a month ago when he posed for a photo that went viral online.

Amirreza Ahmadi, the adviser, went so far as to share his mobile number, telling local media that he sees his job as listening to Iranian youth “from Tehran to the borders of this country.”

After being criticized by users who claimed Ahmadi didn’t “resemble” Gen Z Iranians, used bots to promote his social media accounts, and had no established connection to youth organizations or students who wanted change, he later blocked commenting on his social media profiles.

The appointment appears to have been a result of a moderate administration’s effort to connect with younger generations who have been promoting political change in Asia and around the world. The moderate administration has promised better social freedoms and lifted sanctions during election campaigns.

However, Pezeshkian and his administration have struggled because many young Iranians are indifferent to their offers and because many of the more hardline factions within the Iranian establishment are less interested in appeasing the young.

The Iranian state struggles to communicate in the language of a generation that was raised online and outside of its ideological framework, according to Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program.

In this way, she continued, the hardline elite’s fear of losing control outweighs any concern about losing the young because its outreach “feels transactional rather than transformative and ultimately is directed to stave off unrest and protests.”

Iran is firmly rooted in repressive rather than renewal politics, according to the imbalance. She told Al Jazeera, “I believe the system will be stifled by contradictory messages, narratives, and policies.”

Gen Z youth are a large percentage of those who defy state controls because, like most Iranians, they are also depressed by corruption and mismanagement and the worsening economic conditions.

defining boundaries

Authorities say they understand that the public must support Iran in order to navigate difficult circumstances, including reinstated UN sanctions and the persistent threat of war, because Israel and its Western allies have publicly praised the regime change in Iran since the 12-day conflict in June.

Some officials, primarily those in the more moderate or pragmatic camps, were forced to advocate for lowering some social freedom restrictions as a result.

Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, a leader of the moderate camp, criticized hardline lawmakers and politicians last week for passing legislation that the majority of Iranians opposed, likely in reference to the contentious subject of the mandatory hijab.

The government has stated that it will not put the law into practice.

Tehran, Iranshahr

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However, hardline groups within the establishment have mobilized to reinstate as many restrictions as possible.

This week, a video that was shot in Tehran’s downtown became popular online that showed young people who exhibited disobedience to the theological establishment enjoying a performance by street musicians.

They have become more prevalent after years of musicians defying a state’s ban on street shows, but they still face reprisals if they attract too much attention.

Iranian authorities shut down at least one band member’s Instagram account, with the police claiming that the account had been closed in response to a court order for “publishing criminal content.”

The band member’s potential punishment has not been made clear by the authorities.

This week, hard-line, conservative media reported on yet another Tehran crackdown.

According to the state-run Fars news website, which is connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ticket sales for a “disco that included naked women dancing with boys” in the Pakdasht neighborhood were stopped, and legal proceedings were brought against the organisers.

This was in reference to a week-long electronic music event that had been selling tickets legally after the authorities had granted the necessary permits.

Iranian authorities impose sanctions on dancing in public spaces, especially when it is done by both men and women at once.

Alcohol consumption is still prohibited in Iran, which makes it illegal for some Iranians to buy illegal goods or dangerous homemade goods. Numerous lives are still lost annually to ethanol- and other chemicals-contaminated alcohol.

Despite the restrictions, some cafes and restaurants still employ DJs and occasionally serve alcohol.

Authorities permanently closed a significant restaurant in Tehran’s Nahjol Balaghe Park in mid-September because of a video that showed theremen dancing to music inside and drinking alcohol there.

After holding events where young people danced in front of thousands of stores, a number of clothing stores and other vendors have recently been shut down.

Authorities also canceled a significant public concert at Tehran’s iconic Azadi Tower, which the government had intended to demonstrate national unity at the beginning of September.

The apparent contradiction between the positions of various establishment factions highlights Iran’s uniqueness, with the government not necessarily having the final say over conflicting issues and other forces like the Revolutionary Guard being able to defy government orders.

Online freedoms and hijab laws

The controversial hijab law, which punishes women and men with prison time, being lashed, or paying fines if the state determines their attire is improper, has been ordered by the Supreme National Security Council.

Following Mahsa Amini’s death while she was being held by the police for her hijab, she was killed in Iran during months of deadly nationwide protests in 2022 and 2023.

Despite Pezeshkian’s government claiming no money was being allocated to it, some so-called “morality police” vans have been seen in cities across the nation.

Women who ride motorcycles in Iran are another group who defy the Iranian government’s policy because they are still denied motorcycle licenses.

Despite having a record-low turnout in elections since 2020, the government still has to support legislation that would allow women to ride.

However, there are more women riding motorcycles all over the country, and there have also been a number of group rides in Tehran recently.

Another campaign promise was made by Pezeshkian’s government, which lifted draconian state bans on tens of thousands of websites and almost all social media platforms.

The government blamed Israel for the persistent enforcement of stringent internet restrictions, asserting that the restrictions would have been lifted had it not been for the June War.

As a result of their lack of significant offerings to them, New York University associate professor and author Azadeh Moaveni stated to Al Jazeera that she does not believe any particular faction of the state enjoys widespread support from the younger generation.

“Pragmatists in the state are just offering their own frustration, which is of no value, and at best pointing out, as the president has done, that he won’t enact laws like the hijab law, which the majority of the country opposes,” she said.

Some of India’s most lethal reptiles are saved by snake handlers who risk their lives.

Thousands more people are still missing in western Sudan’s Darfur, while thousands more have escaped the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and told horrifying tales.

Before falling to the RSF after 18 months of siege on Sunday, North Darfur state’s capital was the last Sudanese army stronghold in the vast region.

As evidence of widespread rape, rape, and other abuses continue to surface, the UN and international aid organizations have since raised the alarm about the fate of civilians.

Alkheir Ismail, a young Sudanese man who has fled to the town of Tawila, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, claimed to be one of 300 people who were obstructed by RSF fighters as they attempted to flee El-Fasher on Sunday. He continued, adding that one of the captors recognized him from his early school days, so the fighters only spared him.

A young man I studied with at the university in Khartoum said to them, “Don’t kill him.” The rest of the population, the youths who were with me and my friends, were then murdered.

Other Sudanese residents in Tawila also shared their fear after being stopped by fighters.

“All of a sudden, they showed up, from a source I’m not sure. Three young men of different ages showed up. They shot in the air and yelled, “Stop, stop!” According to Tahani Hassan, they were dressed like RSF members. They forcefully hit us. Our clothes were thrown onto the ground by them. Even I was searched as a woman. The attacker may not be my daughter’s age.

Fatima Abdulrahim, who fled with her children, claimed to have traveled to Tawila for five days in brutal conditions.

They beat the boys, and they left us with nothing. Our girls escaped, she said after we learned that the girls in the group who had followed us had been raped.

A young woman who fled the city, Rawaa Abdalla, reported missing her father.

She said, “We don’t know whether he’s alive or dead, whether he’s been injured or with those who left.

RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Hemedti “Dagalo called on his fighters to defend civilians in a speech on Wednesday night and said violations would be brought to justice.

The paramilitary group, which has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023, claimed on Thursday that it had arrested several fighters accused of abuses, but UNHCR’s Tom Fletcher questioned the RSF’s commitment to conducting an investigation.

According to Reuters news agency, a senior RSF commander called the army’s and its allies’ accounts an exaggeration to account for their demise and loss of El-Fasher.

According to the UN, the conflict, which has forced some 14 million people from their homes and caused the worst humanitarian crisis in history, has claimed the lives of the RSF and the army. Flus are common, and cholera and other deadly diseases are becoming more prevalent.

“Killed, blocked, and hunted down”

According to the UN, more than 62, 000 people emigrated from El-Fasher between Sunday and Wednesday. 260, 000 people lived in El-Fasher as of late August.

According to a statement released on Friday, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) said organizations operating on the ground estimate that only about 5, 000 people have been able to travel to Tawila in the past five days.

The most likely, if frightening, response to patients’ complaints is that they are being killed, blocked, and hunted down as they attempt to flee, according to MSF head of emergencies Michel Olivier Lacharite, who called on mediators to intervene in the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.

Of the 70 new arrivals in Tawila on October 27, according to MSF, every child under five years old was acutely malnourished, with 57 percent of them suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

RSF fighters reportedly locked people up for ransom, with amounts ranging from 5 million to 30 million Sudanese pounds (more than $8, 000 to nearly $50, 000), according to survivors who reported to the aid organization.

Another survivor reported gruesome scenes of RSF fighters driving around prisoners.

We condemn the gruesome mass atrocities and killings, both indiscriminate and ethnically targeted, that have acquiesced in and around El Fasher, Sudan, this week. https: //t. co/YGo84UxEn5

More survivors were contacted by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the agency that provides humanitarian assistance in Tawila and offers sexual and reproductive health care.

Only four people who could pay a ransom among a group of 200 men, women, and children ended up surviving four different encounters with RSF soldiers at checkpoints on the way to Tawila, according to a 24-year-old man.

The rest were killed, they said. They murdered women, elderly people, and children. He was quoted as saying, “I cannot describe the scene, it was intolerable to watch people die right in front of you, each with a single bullet.

A 26-year-old woman claimed that her husband only paid a ransom for her and their children, and that they were in danger of murder. After being asked if she was a virgin, a 19-year-old girl claimed that soldiers raped her.

Additionally, the UNFPA has confirmed that on October 29 RSF fighters killed at least 460 people in the el-Fasher maternity hospital.

According to the report, the death toll may have been much higher, with some victims reportedly being patients, visitors, displaced people, and healthcare workers.

Kordofan has seen more murders.

More than 36, 000 people have fled the Bara neighborhood, which the RSF had earlier taken control of, according to the UN in the state of North Kordofan, in the state of North Kordofan.

Because the state capital, el-Obeid, is still under army rule, the UN predicts North Kordofan will likely be the next battlefield for the RSF and the Sudanese army.

“Reports are also emerging about serious violations involving Barra town’s RSF capture, including the alleged summary execution of five Red Crescent volunteers. According to Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “our human rights colleagues have also received alarming reports of sexual violence.”

Sudan Doctors Network spokesperson Mohammed Elsheikh reported to Al Jazeera from Manchester in the UK that Bara residents are in very poor health.

Between Bara and El-Obeid City, which are on very dangerous roads and in challenging environmental conditions, is a “long walk.” He said that we’re talking about a desert with extremely high daytime temperatures and extremely cold nighttime weather.

The army and the RSF have engaged in fierce combat in Bara, with the paramilitary group also making advances in nearby towns.