The bloody reprisals against protesters are the culmination of decades in which the regime’s "propensity and ability to use violence" has only increased, analysts say.

Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days Tuesday after authorities severed communications during a crackdown on nationwide protests

Activists spent years preparing for a communications blackout in Iran, smuggling in Starlink satellite internet systems and making digital shutdowns harder for the authorities to enforce.

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Huge protests in Iran have galvanised exiled foes of the authorities but despite their hatred of the ruling clerics, a bitter schism dating to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution still afflicts the leading opposition factions.

When citizens demonstrate in the street, chanting for change, the focus is on the conflict with the police, the conflict with the government through their rhetoric. The unseen side of demonstrations is the countless number of men and women who never return to their homes.

The American president’s extraordinary — and utterly exhausting — grip on the global psyche intensified on Wednesday.

In a serious challenge to Iran’s authoritarian government, angry protests have spread from the markets and universities of major cities to the impoverished towns in the hinterland.

Reza Pahlavi told TIME that protesters in Iran are counting on the U.S. President to intervene as the regime kills demonstrators by the thousands.

Iran’s crown jewels are not just symbols of past monarchy but active financial assets. Stored beneath Tehran’s Central Bank, they officially back the Iranian rial. Collected over centuries by rulers like Nadir Shah and Reza Shah Pahlavi,