The force was in the spotlight on Thursday as the European Union moved to declare it a terrorist organization over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran earlier this month.

Their hospitality carries a message the regime cannot censor: Iranians long to reconnect with the world that was pushed away from them. Such kindness is a quiet act of defiance, a reminder that the Islamic Republic is not the heart of Iran — and that it never was.

Iranian nationalism is fueling protests against the current autocracy, and Donald Trump on their side, there is reason for hope amid the unrest.

Christianity will fix the ills that Iran has suffered under the ayatollahs for nearly half a century. Iran will be transformed and thrive. Iran will become a cornerstone of peace, not the epicenter of Islamic terror. It’s not that I know this only from my experiences and intuition, knowing my people. God also says so Himself.

Iran’s clerics face a familiar uprising driven by economic collapse, but repression, not reform, now defines the regime’s response. Originally published at The Boston Globe

It appears that the Revolutionary Guards are responsible for the large number of demonstrators—whether hundreds or thousands—who have been killed. Iran has held funerals for more than one hundred Revolutionary Guards members and other security personnel who have died in clashes with protesters.

Strangled, snatched from hospital beds and tortured: Horrific new claims expose Iran’s deadly protest crackdown - Reports reaching Independent Persian describe systemic abuse and the covert transfer of bodies to morgues as a UN rapporteur warns the total death toll could reach 20,

Iran's foreign minister warned Wednesday its forces would respond immediately and forcefully to any US military operation after President Donald Trump declared time was running out to avoid one, but did not rule out a new deal on Tehran's nuclear programme.